When Bad Boys Go Good
by PrincessSerenity1976
Summary: ***Finally Finished***A sort of prequel to my story, The Lunar Princess of the Earth. Post-Stars. It is three months after Chaos's defeat and life is back to normal for everyone, until Darien gets another chance to study in America. So he calls in some old friends to help protect Serena. Sere/Dare and Scouts/Generals
1. Too Many Decisions

**A/N **Hey guys! I know some of you are probably looking at this and huffing and puffing because I have two other stories that are begging to be updated. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them, but this one has been planned for a while. I want to take this opportunity to thank **fairy. queen. of. sparks.** for reminding me that I had started this story and for telling me to get off of my butt and do something with it. Thank you for the pep talks!

Okay, so this is technically the prequel to Lunar Princess of the Earth, but it could also be a stand alone story. So if anyone is reading this that hasn't read Lunar Princess or what has been published so far of its sequel The Galactic Trinity, don't worry, you shouldn't be lost. This takes place about three months after the fight with Galaxia and tells how the generals come back into existence and hook up with the scouts again. Serena and Darien will be the main couple, but there will be plenty of scout/general action as well. I'm not planning on this being nearly as long as some of my other stories, but it still a work in progress. GT and Rekindled are my main focuses at the moment, but I will try to update this as often as I can.

All right, I'm only going to say this once. I don't own Sailor Moon and you all know I don't. Thank goodness for the immensely talented Naoko-san for giving us such timeless characters to play with. Okay, I'm done!

_**ENJOY!**_

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 1

Too Many Decisions

Four teenage girls stood in a hallway, huddled around an apartment door as they listened to the raised voices yelling at each other on the other side.

"Damn it, Serena! I can't believe we're even having this conversation. I told you, I've already made up my mind. I'm not going."

"But Darien, this is your future we're talking about. It has always been your dream to go there. Why would you give it up?"

"I promised you that I wouldn't leave you again. The first time that I tried to go to America didn't work out so great. I'm not willing to take that chance again."

"But this is Harvard we're talking about. You can't just throw it away so that you can stay here and baby-sit me. What happened last time won't happen again. Chaos is gone and Galaxia has been freed. We don't have anything to worry about."

"And what if something does go wrong? What if I die again? I won't leave you alone like that."

"I was never alone! I have my family and the scouts. I'll be fine. And if something bad were to happen I'm sure I could find some way to contact the Starlights. They would come back to help me."

The raven-haired girl outside the door moaned as she heard Darien growl low in his throat. "Way to go, Meatball Head! I can't believe she brought up the Starlights. She knows how tense Darien gets whenever anyone mentions anything about Seiya."

Next to her, Lita nodded. "Yep! That definitely wasn't a smart move."

Mina grinned like a cheshire cat. "Oh pooh! I think it's good for Darien to have a love rival. That way he doesn't take Serena for granted. As Pluto always says, the future isn't set in sand."

"I think you mean stone, Mina," Amy corrected, her cheeks deeply flushed. "I don't think we should be listening in on them like this. It's not polite to eavesdrop on private conversations."

"What's private about it?" Raye retorted. "I'm sure people five miles away can hear them with the way they're yelling. Besides, I want to know what happens."

It had been about three months since the final battle with Galaxia and all had been quiet since then. Life had settled down and returned to normal. The school year was drawing to a close and they were looking forward to a fun filled summer.

Since Darien's plans to attend Harvard had been interrupted thanks to Galaxia, he had settled back at home and had reenrolled in his old college. With end of the year exams looming before all of them, they had gotten to where they all met up at his apartment every afternoon to study. Even Serena had been hitting the books, shocking them all.

This afternoon had been no different from any other day. After school they had headed for the Crown Arcade for a snack. They all had a milkshake, well Serena had two, and they visited with Andrew for a while before leaving for Darien's apartment for another, as Serena put it, torture session.

Things had gone smoothly for about an hour. All was quiet unless someone had a question, and then Amy or Darien would step in to help. Serena had been working diligently on her Geometry homework when her pencil lead broke. She dug through her bag for another, but was unable to find one. Then she spotted several in a cup on Darien's desk and jumped up to get one.

She was nowhere near as klutzy as she used to be, but she still had her moments. She had just reached the desk when she tripped over thin air and sent a stack of papers fluttering to the floor.

"Oh man! That's just my luck!" she grouched as she bent down to retrieve the papers.

Darien had jumped up quickly. "That's okay, Sere. I've got it."

But he was too late. He saw the change in her expression the moment she picked up the paper and saw the letterhead at the top. He sucked in a breath and waited for her reaction.

"Darien," she said softly. "This is an acceptance letter to Harvard, and it's dated last week."

He forced his voice to remain steady. "Yes it is. My professor here decided to check and see if there was still an opening for me to go, and since somebody dropped out of the program they have a spot available in the fall."

Serena forced a smile onto her face. "That's great news! Why didn't you tell me before?"

He looked at her like she must be joking. "Because I'm not going."

So that was how it had started. The other girls had excused themselves from the room when things started heating up between the couple, and that was what had led them to listening outside the door and out of the line of fire.

"Serena, be reasonable!"

"I am being reasonable! You have the opportunity of a lifetime just sitting there in your hands and you're just standing there calmly saying that you're not going to take it? Have you lost your mind?"

"Just forget it for right now. I can't talk to you when you get worked up like this."

"Fine! Be a jerk! Give me a call if you come to your senses."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home!"

The girls jumped away from the door as they heard footsteps stomping toward it. A few seconds later it was flung wide and Serena appeared, arms full of books and papers that she hadn't taken the time to put in her bag. Her face was bright red and her eyes were shiny as she breezed by everyone without a word. She ducked into the elevator and disappeared as the doors slid shut behind her.

Not knowing what else to do, they crept quietly back into the apartment. The sliding doors to the balcony were open and they could see Darien out there leaning against the railing. Feeling that their presence was not welcome, they quickly gathered their things and left.

"Whew!" Lita exhaled when they were safely in the elevator. "That was uncomfortable, wasn't it?"

"I'll say," Amy agreed. "Couldn't they have waited until we had finished studying before they decided to start arguing? I was only able to make it through three chapters of my biology notes."

Raye tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Leave it to Meatball Head Serena to blow things all out of proportion. Darien's a big boy and can make his own decisions. She didn't have to keep harping on him like that."

"Well," Amy interjected. "As much as I despise the timing of their little…disagreement, I can see exactly where Serena's coming from. Don't get me wrong, Tokyo U has a wonderful medical program, but a chance to study at Harvard…it's every medical student's dream. I'm proud of her for being mature and thinking of Darien's education first."

"It shocked the hell out of me," Lita confessed. "After what she went through last fall and winter I figured she'd never let Darien outside of a two mile radius. I never in a million years pictured her telling him to pack up and go thousands of miles away. Not after what happened before."

All four girls were silent as the elevator opened and they stepped out and then exited the building, each one of them thinking back about the last time Darien had left. They had thought that he was safely tucked away on Harvard's campus enjoying all the benefits of studying at a prestigious university.

Serena had walked around for months with a forced smile on her face. The girls had thought it was just because she missed him. It never occurred to them that she hiding the fact that she hadn't heard from her boyfriend since he set foot on that plane. After all, he had put that pink, heart shaped ring on Serena's ring finger just minutes before departing, so the thought of him not contacting her was ludicrous.

Their steps automatically led them to their favorite hang out, the Crown arcade. Still deep in thought, they entered and robotically approached the counter.

"Hey girls!" Andrew greeted them when they took a seat. "I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. What can I get for you?"

"Milkshake," they all replied automatically.

"Sure thing!" the sandy blonde replied cheerfully as he turned to get the drinks. "So where are the lovebirds at? Too wrapped up in each other to leave Darien's apartment?"

"Not exactly," Mina mumbled, then her eyes lit up in excitement. "Hey Andrew! You and Rita have had a long distance relationship going on for quite a while now. How do you two deal with it?"

Andrew's hazel eyes blinked in surprise at the question. "Well, it's not easy. You just kind of have to take what you can get. There's lots of letter writing and e-mailing with the occasional phone call thrown into the mix. Why so curious all of a sudden?" Then comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh! Serena found out about Harvard, didn't she?"

"You knew?" Lita growled, leaning across the counter and grabbing him by his shirt. "How could you find out about something like this and not share it with the rest of us?"

""Whoa!" Andrew exclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just found out about it last night. Darien came dragging in here like a lost puppy around closing time. He seemed really down so I badgered him until he spilled the beans. He finally told me that Harvard had accepted him again and he was confused about what to do. We talked for a while until he felt better and then he went home."

"Well he's not confused anymore!" Raye snapped. "He seems to be pretty adamant about his decision. Serena and he had a pretty intense disagreement about it and she stormed out of his apartment in tears."

Andrew looked confused as he set the shakes in front of them. "But I thought Sere would be ecstatic with his decision. Darien told me that he was going to stay here because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving her again after what she went through last time. So why would she be upset? Did he change his mind?"

Amy shook her head. "No. It's just the opposite. Serena's upset because he's not going. She doesn't want to see him give up such a wonderful opportunity just to stay here with her."

"Wow! That's pretty deep for Serena," Andrew said in awe. "But I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. She always puts everyone else's well being above her own. But I'm sure they'll work everything out between them in time."

"I'm just glad it's them and not me," Raye commented. "Relationships do nothing but turn everything upside down. It's times like this that I'm glad I'm a single girl."

Amy nodded in agreement. And surprisingly so did Lita and Mina, all of them counting their lucky stars that they didn't have to deal with the headaches of dealing with boyfriends at the moment.

* * *

_'Hi, you've reached Serena. Sorry I can't make it to the phone right now, but you know what to do at the beep…Beep!'_

"Hey Sere, it's me. Look, it's been two days since I've seen or heard from you. We're going to have to talk about this sometime. Anyway, give me a call when you get this message. I love you."

Darien hung up his phone and returned it to his pocket with a sigh. He couldn't believe that Serena was being so stubborn about this whole Harvard thing. He had figured that she would have had the exact opposite reaction when he told her that he was staying here instead of going to America, but she had shocked him with her response.

Okay, so he _really_ wanted to have the opportunity to study at an Ivy League school, but Serena was the single most important person in his life, at least until the time came for a certain pink haired little girl to make her entrance into the world, and he never wanted to do anything to hurt her.

But he had hurt her, not intentionally of course. But every time he thought about the look on her face when he had appeared after Chaos's defeat and the way she had trembled in his arms before collapsing into a sobbing, emotional wreck, he felt guilty. He felt guilty for leaving her behind the way he had when he had promised her to always stand by her side. Good ole Harvard was just going to have to do without him.

He forced himself to return to his books and the endless amount of studying that awaited him, but after an hour he had made very little progress. It was hard to admit it after being a loner for so many years, but he had gotten used to the sound of chattering female voices floating around when he studied. Now the complete silence seemed almost deafening to him.

He jumped when his phone rang, shattering the quiet that he detested at the moment. He was so relieved to know that Serena was finally returning his phone call that he answered it without checking the caller ID. "Serena!"

A definite male voice chuckled. "Afraid not, lover boy. I was wondering if you had talked to her yet, but I guess I have my answer from the way you just greeted me."

Darien ran agitated fingers through his hair. "Sorry about that, Drew. I left a message for Serena earlier and thought it was her returning my call."

"Well that was pretty obvious," Andrew snorted. "Anyway, you can consider this a courtesy call, although I do it at serious risk to my life. This just goes to show you what a wonderful friend I am."

Darien pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Have you been drinking? Because you're not making any sense."

Andrew gasped in indignation. "I most certainly have not been drinking! What kind of idiot do you take me for? My mother would skin me alive if I showed up for work smelling like booze. As for not making any sense, I would if you would let me finish talking!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Darien apologized quickly. "So what is so important that making this phone call would pose a risk to your life?"

Andrew's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "Well, I just thought that since things have been so strained between you and Serena the last couple of days and she won't return your phone calls that you would appreciate the opportunity to talk to her in person."

That got Darien's attention and he sat up straight. "She's there?"

His friend sounded smug. "Yes she is, and she looks to be in just as bad of shape as you are. She came in about two hours ago and parked her butt in front of the Sailor V game and hasn't moved since, except to order another milkshake. She's already on her fourth so I figure a sugar crash is imminent at some point."

Darien was already on his feet, searching for his keys and shoes. "So why did it take you two hours to call me? You should have called me the moment she walked in."

A whimper actually came over the line. "She threatened me with a long, slow, painful death if I called you. I don't know if you're aware of this, but your girlfriend can be scary when she's angry. Besides, I'm just a normal guy. What chance would I have against Sailor Moon if she decided to come after me?"

Darien had to admit that the guy had a point. For the most part Serena was usually bubbly and cheerful, the type of person that wouldn't hurt a flea, but he had seen her face down monsters and other horrors that most people could never even begin to imagine. Yeah, she could be pretty intense when riled.

"So why take the chance and call me now?" he asked as he attempted to tie his shoe while juggling the phone and standing on one foot.

The next words made his blood freeze. "Because if you don't get your ass in gear some other guy just may come along and sweep your princess away right underneath your nose."

Darien's fingers tightened around the phone so hard that he thought he heard the plastic crack. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Andrew's voice actually trembled a little at the cold, hard sound of his friend's voice. "Well, there's this guy. He's wearing a Juuban High uniform, so I guess he goes to school with Serena. He came in a little while ago and sat down next to her and started talking. But he's got that look in his eye, you know. He's definitely interested in her as more than just a classmate."

"I'll be right there!" Darien growled, hanging up the phone and storming out of the apartment. A few minutes later his blue motorcycle was roaring out of the parking garage and heading for the Crown arcade.

* * *

Serena stared at the screen in front of her, but she really wasn't paying attention the animated figure of Sailor V or the youma she was fighting. However, she had played the game so many times over the years that her fingers moved over the controls automatically and the score kept rising.

"Wow! You're really good at this game," a voice said next to her.

She pasted a less than cordial smile on her face. "Thanks, Ryan! I've been playing this game every since it came out a couple of years ago. It's one of my favorites."

The brunette boy beside her gestured to the high score board. "Is that you in first place with the highest score?"

Serena nodded without looking up. She didn't have to look at it to picture the initials SUT that had been residing in the top position for the last year and a half. Many others had tried to beat her high score since then, but none had been able to touch her.

She played in silence for a few more minutes until she heard Ryan clear his throat nervously. "So, how do you think you did on that Algebra test today?"

She ground her teeth together in irritation. She had known Ryan since elementary school, and he was a really nice guy, but he obviously didn't pick up on things too easily. She hadn't been exactly rude to him since he sat down, but she hadn't been welcoming either. She avoided looking at him and only spoke when he asked her a question. Couldn't the guy see that she wanted to be left alone?

She made a mistake on the game and Sailor V lost a life. She took advantage of the temporary pause in the game to answer shortly. "I did okay, I guess." Then she spun around on her stool to face the counter. "Another milkshake, Drew!"

The sandy blonde behind the counter shook his head. "But Sere, you've already had four. Don't you think you ought to give it a rest?"

Her blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "I asked for another milkshake, Andrew."

Andrew eyed her dubiously. "You're going to be sick."

"I don't care!" she snapped back. "Now are you going to get me my shake, or am I going to have to take my business someplace else?"

"One triple chocolate milkshake, coming right up," Andrew sighed, reaching for a glass.

Serena gave a tight smile of triumph as she watched him, but her face paled a moment later when she heard the sound of a roaring engine and the screech of tires right outside the arcade. She leveled a murderous look on the man behind the counter when she saw the look of relief on his face.

"You called him!" she growled menacingly.

Andrew held his hands up. "Look, Serena, he's my friend too and I think the two of you need to seriously sit down and talk about this."

"I can't believe you!" she screeched. "All I wanted to do was come in and get some uninterrupted therapy time with my favorite video game and drown my sorrows in milkshakes until I had to roll myself home. And I can't even do that!"

Ryan began edging away from the rampaging blonde. "Uh, I think I'll just be going."

Serena spun to face him, her eyes lit up maniacally. "Oh no, Ryan! You don't have to leave on my account. You seemed so anxious to jabber my ear off a few minutes ago. So let's talk! You wanted to know how I thought I did on that Algebra test today. Well I'll be honest with you. I'm pretty sure I flunked the stupid thing, okay! And do you want to know why? It's because my boyfriend's being the world's biggest idiot and throwing his lifelong dream away because everybody seems to be under the impression that I'm nothing but this silly little girl that has to have someone around to hold her hand every stinking second of the day! I am not an idiot, and I wish people would stop treating me like one!"

Her voice had risen to a hysterical scream by that point. She stopped to drag in some much needed air, her breath rasping raggedly in her chest. It wasn't until she saw Ryan's eyes widen as he looked over her shoulder that she became aware of the presence of a new energy in the room. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself before turning around slowly.

Darien stood just inside the arcade's doors, staring at her with a mixture of shock and longing on his face. There was some other emotion burning in his eyes, but she tore her gaze from his before she had a chance to decipher what it could be.

"Never mind the shake, Drew," she said tiredly as she grabbed her school bag. "I think I'm just going to go home instead."

She felt her eyes prickle with tears and knew that it wouldn't be long before she had a major meltdown. She wanted to be far away from here and the prying eyes before that happened. She lifted her chin regally and strode toward the door, trying to ignore the dark haired man standing there.

Darien grabbed her arm as she passed. "We need to talk, Serena."

She shook her head, sending her long golden hair flying around her. "Not right now, Darien, please. I'm still a little upset and I just want to go home."

She sounded so miserable that he almost let her go, but then irritation set in. "You're not getting away that easily, Serena! You want people to start taking you seriously then you need to start acting like an adult. Running away from this and avoiding me isn't going to make the problem go away. We're going to have to face this before it drives a wedge between us. Is that what you want?"

Her eyes flew to his. "Of course not! I'm just trying to figure out…why are you doing this, Darien?"

He started to answer, but then he became aware of two very eager onlookers that were hanging on every word they were saying. Both Andrew and that little snot nosed punk from Serena's school were inching ever so slightly closer, trying to hear what they were saying.

He let out a growl. "Come with me. Let's go find somewhere a little more private for this conversation."

He took her hand and led her outside, feeling relieved when she followed him without protest. When they reached his motorcycle he took her bag from her and slipped it into the custom made carry all he had on the back of the bike and pulled out the second helmet he kept in there just for Serena and handed it to her.

She eyed him warily. "Where are we going?"

He pulled his own helmet on. "I thought we'd go back to my place. That way we'll be comfortable and not have any interruptions while we talk." He threw a leg over the bike and patted the seat behind him. "Come on, Meatball Head."

She still felt like crying, but she couldn't stop a small smile at the old nickname. "You haven't called me that in a while."

He grinned at her. "Only when the occasion calls for it. Now are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your underwear on," she muttered under her breath as she put on the helmet and climbed onto the bike. She felt a sense of belonging as she wrapped both of her arms tightly around his waist.

Maybe she was being ridiculous about his decision to stay here. It wasn't like she really wanted him to leave. She loved having him around and knowing that she would get to see him every day, even if it was for only a few minutes before he had to rush off to study. And he wasn't giving up on his dream to become a doctor, he was still studying medicine, he was just studying it here instead of some fancy, schmansy American college. There was nothing wrong with that…right?

But then she thought back to that night after the battle with Galaxia. Granted she had been numb with shock and fatigue when everyone had gathered at Darien's apartment to discuss what had happened. After all, she had just watched all of her friends die, found out that her boyfriend that she had thought had abandoned her was actually dead, fought the hardest battle that she had ever had to fight, and then dealt with the shock of having everyone come back from the dead, but she hadn't exactly been comatose.

Even now she could picture the look of pure astonishment on Darien's face when he discovered that he had actually been MIA for the better part of six months. He had never elaborated on whether or not he had any consciousness of anything after his star seed had been taken; he only described it as being in a sort of limbo with no concept of time.

But even now Serena could remember the dejected look in his eyes when he spoke of how his chances at Harvard had been ruined. He had tried to brush it off as being no big deal, but she had known that it had been a huge disappointment. So her insisting that she wanted him to go was really for his own good. She didn't want him to look back years from now and be resentful that he hadn't taken advantage of this opportunity, or worse, blame her for him missing out on this.

They roared off down the street, both of them lost in their own thoughts. The rushing wind and the loud sound of the engine made conversation pretty much impossible, so they remained quiet during the short drive to Darien's apartment. Once he had parked the bike in its parking space, he took her hand and led her to the elevator without a word.

The ride up seemed to go on forever and stretched Serena's nerves so tight that she thought they were going to snap. Usually elevator rides with Darien were filled with lively chatter or a few stolen kisses, but as she glanced up at his stern features from under her lashes she knew that neither one of those things were happening today.

She almost sighed out loud when they finally reached the top floor and the elevator dinged as the doors slid open. She hurried into the hall ahead of him, grateful to escape the closed, cramped space that had forced them to stand so close together. She waited patiently as he unlocked the door and then followed him inside.

"Do you want something to drink?" Darien asked her as he set his keys on a small table in the entry hall.

She shook her head. "No, thank you. My eyeballs already feel like they're floating from all of the milkshakes I've had."

"Oh, okay," he gestured to the living room. "Why don't we sit down and make ourselves comfortable."

He settled himself in his favorite chair, expecting Serena to take her usual place either on the arm or in his lap, but she surprised him when she simply walked over to the couch and took a seat on the end. She was barely perched on the edge of the cushion and kept her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"So what exactly did you want to talk about?" she asked softly without looking up at him.

Her actions troubled him. This wasn't his bright, happy Meatball Head. The girl sitting before him now looked depressed and dejected as she stared down at her clasped hands that he could now see trembled just the slightest bit.

"Serena, look at me, please," he pleaded softly.

Slowly her head came up and she looked at him with eyes that shown brightly with unshed tears. He felt his heart crack a little as one crystal drop leaked from the corner of her eye and slid down her smooth, pale cheek.

He held his arms open. "Come here, princess."

Serena knew that she was giving into his charm entirely too easily, but she felt so cold and lonely and craved the warmth and security of his touch. She stood and crossed the few feet to him and let him draw her gently down onto his lap and into his arms. She couldn't stop a sniffle as she wound her arms around his neck and buried her face in the juncture of his shoulder.

"What am I going to do with you?" Darien sighed and rested his chin on top of her head between her twin golden buns.

She let out a shaky giggle. "I don't know. What do you want to do with me?"

He chuckled at her pitiful attempt to sound playful. "I don't think this is the time for that. We have other things we need to talk about. Now, why are you so determined that I go to Harvard?"

Her head rose up and she looked at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Darien, you've been working to earn an opportunity like this since before I met you. You have always worked and studied so hard to get to where you are now. How could you not go when the invitation has practically been dropped in your lap?"

He eyed her curiously. "Is your concern for my education the only reason why you're being so adamant about this, or is there something more? Maybe you got so used to me being gone that you want me to go away again."

Serena looked horrified. "Of course I don't want you to go away!" Then she saw a twinkle in his eyes. "Now you're teasing me and it's not funny. I'm trying to be mature about this and think about what's best for you. You're always looking out for me and my interests, so I'm just returning the favor."

"What's best for me, hmm?" Darien mused. "And how could my being away from you be in my best interest? I'm happy right here where I am. I have you and our friends and I'm still getting a good education. What more could I ask for?"

She met his gaze squarely. "I want you to look me straight in the eyes and tell me that you don't want to go to America. If you can make it sound convincing and I think you are telling the truth I'll never bring the subject up again."

He opened his mouth to tell her exactly that. But when his eyes locked with her honest, caring sky blue orbs, the words died in his throat. No matter how much he wanted to tell her how much he wanted to stay with her, he couldn't lie to her.

A smug look appeared on her face. "You can't do it, can you? I know that part of you wants to stay here, but another part of you wants to go so bad that you can taste it. You were so eager to jump on a plane last fall, so why the hesitation now?"

He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Let's see here. Last time I left things didn't go so smoothly, did they? There was the little matter of Galaxia taking advantage of me being alone and stealing my star seed before she launched an all out attack that kept you and the others jumping through hoops for months. I can't help but think that perhaps if I had stayed here things might have gone differently. At least I would have been here to help and support you instead of you having to turn to others."

Understanding lit Serena's eyes. "This isn't about Seiya, is it? I told you, I never thought of him as anything other than a friend."

Darien growled. "Him, her, whatever you want to call it. That whole gender bending crap creeped me out. The point is that I thought that you would be well protected with all of the scouts around, but you weren't. So what if I leave and another powerful enemy shows up and I'm too far away to do anything? It would kill me if something happened to you and I wasn't around to help keep you safe."

Her face began to flush with anger. "Excuse me! You think I need to be kept safe? If I'm not mistaken it was you and everybody else that got themselves killed and I was the one that had save everyone…again! And let me point out that it wasn't the first time that I've had to do that. Let's see…Beryl killed everyone and I beat her and brought everybody back…Oh! And Nehelenia had everyone, including you, trapped in a world of nightmares and I broke the spell and freed you all. And don't even get me started on Wiseman, or Pharaoh 90, or any of the other baddies that I've had to face over the years. I may not be the most mature person in the world, but I think I've done a fairly decent job of keeping myself and everyone else alive. So where do you get off saying that I'm the one that needs protecting? Because from where I stand it seems more like I'm the protector!"

He mulled it over and couldn't deny the ring of truth in her words. So many times she had put her life on the line to protect her loved ones and this planet, but that didn't lessen his desire to keep her safe.

"Okay, you have a point," he conceded. "But that doesn't make your safety any less important to me. It's not that I don't trust the scouts, but everyone's busy with their lives. The inners are always around, but Amara and Michelle travel a lot with their jobs and take Hotaru with them. And nobody ever knows when Trista will pop up. I would just feel better if there was a stronger line of defense between you and anything that might come after you."

Serena rolled her eyes. "So what are you saying, that I need a crew of bodyguards? No offense, sweetie, but the enemies we usually face aren't exactly normal people. A regular, human bodyguard wouldn't be too much help. I would end up having to save them, so it's kind of pointless."

"I know that," Darien grumbled. "That's not what I meant."

Serena put a hand on either side of his face and made him look at her. "Would you do one thing for me if I asked you to?"

He looked a little wary. "It depends on what it is."

She smacked him lightly on the arm. "You don't have to be so cynical. I just want you to promise me that you won't give up on the idea of going to Harvard right away. After all, we have a little time before you have to make a final decision, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I have a few weeks. I'll keep an open mind about it for now, but I'm not promising that I'll change my mind. Besides, I already know what my future has in store for me, and I don't think I'll have the time to be both a doctor and a king. That could get kind of hectic."

"Uh, uh, uh," Serena admonished, wagging a finger at him. "I thought we both agreed that even though we know some about our future that we wouldn't let it interfere in the decisions we make about our lives now. So what if we're going to rule Crystal Tokyo some day? We still have to live for the moment."

Darien gave her a heated look. "Live for the moment, huh? I think I can handle that." He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Now what homework do you have today? I know you haven't gotten a bit of it done since you went to the arcade right after school and started downing milkshakes."

Serena's lower lip trembled. "Are you seriously thinking about my homework at a time like this? We are in the middle of making up here!"

He tapped the tip of her nose with a finger. "I'm just taking advantage of the sugar rush you're on before you crash and burn. Come on, sweetheart, you'll feel better if you go ahead and get it all out of the way now and not have to do it later. And tomorrow's Friday, so I'll take you out to dinner if you're a good girl and get your work done."

Her face brightened. "Do you promise? You won't bail on me to study this time, will you?"

He chuckled. "I promise. That's why I'm going to hit my books while you get to work on yours. But feel free to bug me if you have any questions, okay."

"Fine," she grumbled, sliding off his lap and picking up her book bag. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

Raye looked at the clock and sighed. "I guess Serena's not coming today after all. I can't say I'm really all that surprised; she sounded way down in the dumps when I talked to her earlier. But still, she said she was coming over to study with us. A phone call letting us know that she'd changed her mind would have been nice."

"Aw, don't be too hard on the girl," Lita drawled. "You haven't seen her today. I have three classes with her, and let me tell you, she looked like the whole world was about to come to an end. The poor thing probably went home and crashed."

Raye snorted. "Typical Serena behavior. I don't see why she lets Darien get her so worked up like that. He's just a guy, after all."

"Yeah, but he's her guy," Lita replied. Then her look turned sly. "Besides, once upon a time I remember a certain dark haired scout of fire going absolutely gaga over a certain blonde hottie."

Raye's head snapped up. "What? Who? You're not talking about Andrew, are you? I never went gaga over him. Yeah, I thought he was cute a couple of years ago, but that's it. You and Mina were the two that made fools out of yourselves over him, and you both knew that he already had a girlfriend."

Lita waggled her eyebrows. "I'm not talking about Andrew, although I will admit the man is way beyond fine. I was talking more about the distant past and your steamy affair with a certain general."

Smoke curled up from Raye's clenched hands. "Don't even bring that bastard up! I can't believe that you would even go there. At least I was able to conduct myself with some decorum and wasn't off every second trying to find a dark corner to shag in like you and Nephrite were."

Lita's face hardened. "You're right. I shouldn't have gone there. When I think about the time I wasted on that man, and then he had the nerve to betray me. Ooo, it still burns my ass."

"Girls, girls," Amy chided from behind her calculus book. "Let's not get upset over something that happened a thousand years and a lifetime ago. Someday you might even find it in your heart to forgive them. After all, they had been brainwashed by Beryl and weren't themselves. They didn't know what they were doing."

"Are you saying that you've forgiven Zoicite for everything that he did?" Raye asked incredulously.

Amy's eyes, as cold as two blue chips of ice, popped over the edge of the book. "No, I haven't! But hate is an unhealthy emotion to harbor in one's heart, and I hope that one day I will be able to come to terms with that certain event in my past life and have some closure."

The sound of running footsteps on the wooden porch had their heads swiveling to the door of Raye's bedroom. It slid open a moment later and a blur of gold and white shot through it as Mina ran in with a seasick looking Artemis clinging weakly to her shoulder as he weaved drunkenly.

"Great Spirit! Would you watch where you're going, Klutz Queen!" Raye screeched as she dove for a stack of manga to keep them from toppling to the floor. "I swear you're worse than Serena."

"Tell me about it!" Artemis wheezed as he tried to get his head to stop spinning. "I think she left a trail of corpses behind us from where she ran over them in her haste to get here."

"Oh pooh, Artemis! You're exaggerating!" Mina said airily as she set the traumatized feline on his feet and he stumbled over to settle himself on a cushion next to Amy. "I had to get here as quickly as I could and share my news."

Lita snickered. "And what would that be? Did you discover that the shoe store is having a half price sale so you can go buy ten more pairs to join the thousand you already own and never wear?"

Mina looked miffed. "Go stuff yourself, Thunderbutt! What I have to say is a kajillion times more important than mere shopping."

"Wow! It must be serious if it's more important to you than shopping," Amy giggled.

Raye sat back down and took a sip of her tea. "Just please tell me that this doesn't have anything to do with that guy that works at the ice cream place in the mall that you've been stalking. That last little stunt you pulled almost got us kicked out of the mall."

Mina waved a dismissing hand at her. "No, no! I gave up on him. I think he's gay anyway. Such a waste! I was only interested in him because he reminded me of Yaten with that platinum hair."

Raye crossed her arm across her chest and huffed. "Really! I didn't see the resemblance. Yaten is a beanpole and that guy is built like a linebacker. They don't even have the same color eyes. I think you were after him because he reminded you of someone else."

Mina wasn't one to show her temper easily, but her normally happy face went stone cold at Raye's words. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Ever the peacemaker, Amy jumped in. "She didn't mean anything by it. So what did you want to tell us?"

Mina shot one last glare at Raye before smoothing her expression into a picture of calm. "Well, I was passing by the arcade on my way here and I saw Darien's motorcycle parked outside. I saw him and Serena come out together and get on it and drive away together. The aura between them was still a little strained, but was much more stable than what it was the other day. So I think they may be on the mend."

"That's good news," Lita agreed. "Now maybe Serena will perk back up instead of moping around like she has been the last couple of days."

"I told you guys not to worry about," Raye scoffed. "I knew they would work things out. Serena and Darien can never stay mad at one another no matter how hard they try. I bet they're holed up in his apartment right now being all gooey and mushy with each other. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it."

Mina grinned slyly. "Somebody sounds bitter to me. Admit it, Raye, you're just as jealous as the rest of us and wish that you could find a guy that you could click with like those two."

Raye hung her head. "Okay! So maybe I do wish I could find someone. But sometimes I feel like I'm cursed when it comes to men. Either they turn out to be absolute morons or they get scared away when they find out I'm psychic."

Lita nodded. "I know the feeling. No guy wants to be with a girl that's stronger than him. Not to mention I have trouble finding a guy that's not shorter than me. I would love to go out on a date just once and be able to wear heels."

"Humph!" Mina huffed. "Being the goddess of love isn't all sunshine and rainbows either! Sometimes I hate the fact that can tell about two minutes after I meet someone that we have absolutely no bond together. It takes all of the excitement right out of trying to build a relationship. I figure why bother spending time with someone if it isn't going to go anywhere."

Amy closed her book and set it down with a firm thud. "We shouldn't be worrying about whether or not we have boyfriends anyway. We are in the middle of our high school educations and that should be our main focus."

"But Amy!" the others squealed in protest.

* * *

Darien closed his textbook with a sigh and took off his reading glasses before rubbing his eyes tiredly. He stretched his arms over his head to loosen his stiff back as he looked over at the couch and smiled.

Serena had finished her homework about an hour before and had crashed. Evidently her sugar buzz had finally worn off. Darien had covered her with a blanket and had brought a pillow from his bed to slip under her head. And now she lay curled up on her side with her arms wrapped tightly around the black silk covered pillow.

Looking at the clock, Darien knew he was going to have to get his sleeping beauty home soon. Her mother always worried if Serena wasn't home by dinnertime, but he took a few minutes to just sit next to her and study her as she slept.

She looked peaceful. Her cheeks were flushed from sleep and her lips were slightly parted as her gentle breaths puffed in and out. Her long blonde hair twisted around her and a few strands lay across her face.

He swept the loose hairs away with the backs of his fingers and smiled. When she was like this it was sometimes hard to picture what a firecracker she was when she was awake, always full of spirit.

He leaned down and kissed her petal soft lips. But Serena, being true to form, always slept like she was dead. Darien had always joked that she could probably sleep through a hurricane.

It wasn't until he began nibbling on her lower lip that he felt any response from her that indicated that she was waking. He pulled back just a fraction and watched as her sleep clouded blue eyes blinked open slowly and she yawned.

"Wha issit?" she mumbled.

He couldn't help but laugh. "It's time to wake up, sleepyhead, so I can take you home."

"Uh uh," she groaned, eyes closing again. "I'm comfy."

Darien knew that this was going to call for drastic measures. He yanked the pillow away from her and whipped the blanket off of her.

Her eyes flew open. "Hey! What are you doing? I was trying to get some sleep."

"And I want to get you home before your father shows up at my door with a gun and accuses me of doing inappropriate things with his daughter," he argued back.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Daddy's all bark and no bite. Besides, mom would never let him do that."

"Well I would rather not take that chance," he told her. "I happen to like being alive again and I don't want to tempt fate by angering your father. You know he doesn't approve of the age difference between us."

She threw her hands up in the air. "I don't see why he makes such a big deal out of it. It's only three years. And I'm going to be seventeen in two months; I'm not a child anymore. I hope you're not that possessive when Rini comes along."

Darien wisely kept his mouth shut. He knew exactly where Ken Tsukino was coming from. He had already seen his future daughter go through a pretty heavy crush when she had developed a relationship with the Elysian priest, Helios, and he'd had to really bite his tongue to keep from saying anything.

Together they collected Serena's things and then Darien bundled her down to his car so that he could drive her home. Barely twenty minutes later he returned to his apartment alone. Ilene had invited him to stay and have dinner with them, but he had used studying as an excuse when Ken had sent him a death glare after seeing his daughter's wrinkled and rumpled state. There was no telling what that man was picturing in his head, and he didn't want to find out.

Darien knew that most of their friends were under the impression that he and Serena had been intimate together for a long time now, but they couldn't have been further from the truth. He had been seventeen and Serena only fourteen when they had first gotten together, and their relationship had been innocent for the most part. Sure there were kisses and some fairly heavy make out sessions between them, she had even stayed over at his apartment on several occasions and slept in the same bed with him, but nothing had ever happened between them.

He knew that there was the possibility of that changing soon. Serena had grown and matured while Galaxia had held his star seed, and his once shy girlfriend had blossomed into a sensual young woman that tempted his senses every chance she got.

She had grown more forceful when it came to demonstrating her feelings toward him. He had been so shocked the first time that she had pushed him down and straddled his hips that it had taken him a full two minutes to comprehend what was going on. When it had finally clicked in his head that his sixteen-year-old girlfriend was quickly working both of them up into such a frenzy that things were about to take a dangerous turn, he had quickly, but gently, pulled away from her.

Serena had pouted at first, and then had become indignant. She even went so far at one point to ask him if he didn't love her enough to take their relationship to the next level. Darien had assured her that he loved her with all his heart, but he had taken a few psychology courses and believed that she was just reacting from the emotional stress from the fight with Galaxia and he didn't want to take advantage of her if she was in a fragile emotional state.

Serena had laughed at him and told him that he just didn't understand the way a woman's mind worked. She had dropped the subject at the time, but she had started flaunting her newfound maturity in ways that sent his blood pressure right through the roof. A simple look or touch from her sometimes made him want to drag her to his bedroom and do things to her that he had never even thought about doing with another woman.

He shook his head and pushed the thoughts from his mind. He still had a little work left that he needed to get done, and there was no way that he was going to do that if he kept dwelling on Serena and what he would like to do with her. He settled in at the coffee table with his books, a cup of coffee, and a sandwich and dug in.

A few hours later he sat back in triumph. He had finished every assignment that he had on his agenda. So unless any of his professors loaded him down with work tomorrow, he had effectively cleared his entire weekend to spend it with Serena.

He glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after ten. He wondered if she was still awake so he could tell her the good news. Luckily the bond between him and Serena had strengthened to the point that they didn't always have to rely on phones to communicate.

He reached out with his psyche, searching for her bright silver aura. It popped up on his mental radar instantly, just like a shining beacon. He gave it a light brush, just enough to tell him if she was asleep or not.

'_Darien, is that you?' _her voice sounded groggily in his head.

He grinned. _'Of course it's me, silly. Who else would it be? I didn't wake you did I?'_

He could almost hear her mentally yawn. _'I was close to dozing off, but you didn't wake me up. Is everything okay?'_

'_Everything's great,' _he reassured her. _'I got a lot of work done, so if things go well tomorrow I should have a lot of free time this weekend.'_

She sounded sleepy and excited at the same time. _'Really? That's wonderful! Sounds like we'll need to make some plans. It's not often we get to spend a whole weekend together.'_

He chuckled. _'That's true. Now you get some sleep so you'll be rested up for it. I'll be by in the morning and give you a ride to school. I love you.'_

'_I love you too,' _her voice faded away drowsily.

Darien stood and stretched. He figured a shower and a good night's sleep would do wonders for him as well. He turned off all the lights in the kitchen and living room before heading down the hall to the master bedroom. He hummed a little tune under his breath as he thought about the upcoming weekend. Maybe he would take Serena to the amusement park. They hadn't been there in a long time and it was always fun.

He froze suddenly when he reached the bedroom door and gripped the doorframe as sudden images began filling his head.

_**FLASHBACK**_

Prince Endymion stepped off the transportation platform on the moon, Kunzite and Nephrite at his side. Queen Serenity, flanked by Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter stepped forward.

"Prince Endymion, how wonderful to see you again," the queen greeted him as she held a hand out to him.

He took the hand and bowed over it in respect. "Your Majesty. It's an honor to be here. My parents send their apologies for not being able to attend your conference themselves, but there are a few situations back on Earth that require their attention."

Concern lit up Queen Serenity's lavender eyes. "It's nothing too serious, I hope."

"Not at all," he quickly reassured her. "It's just that there have been a couple of raids on some villages by the rebels and my parents wanted to offer their support and help them rebuild."

Serenity smiled. "Althea and Edward are so kind. It's no wonder that they are so beloved by their people. Now I'm sure you would like to get settled in before the banquet tonight. Venus, Jupiter, would you please show the good generals to the rooms that have been assigned to them?"

Both women smiled and answered together. "It would be our pleasure." They led the generals toward the castle.

Endymion offered his arm to the queen, and she looped hers through it as they began walking up the path. Endymion's eyes kept darting around as though searching for someone or something.

Queen Serenity giggled softly. "She's supposed to be with Mercury and Mars overseeing the preparations for tonight. But if I know my daughter I'm sure she'll find some way to slip out of her duties for at least a little while."

She led him through the grand hall and up the wide marble staircase to the upper floor. She paused outside the door to a guest chamber. "This is your room. All of your things should have already been delivered. If there is anything that you require, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, your majesty," he answered with a bow. He suddenly was hit with a need to go into that room as soon as possible.

"I will see you later then," the queen replied with a secretive smile as she turned and walked away.

Endymion dashed inside the room and closed and locked the door behind him. He leaned against the wood as he surveyed the seemingly empty room. "Sere?" he called out in a whisper.

There was no answer, but he knew she was there somewhere. Her presence saturated the room and practically swamped his senses. "Serenity, where are you?"

There was a soft giggle as the long curtains by the tall windows moved and the moon princess stepped out from behind them. She stood there for a moment staring at him with her large, luminescent blue eyes before squealing, "Endy!" and flinging herself across the room and into his arms.

He caught her securely against his chest and held her tightly as her arms wound around his neck. "You're not happy to see me, are you?"

She pouted up at him. "Don't pick on me, Endy! I thought you would never get here. It feels like it's been so long since I last saw you. I can't stand it when we're apart!" She pulled his head down and claimed his lips in a forceful, scorching kiss.

Luckily he was still standing with his back to the door or he would have stumbled back. He quickly regained his composure and returned the kiss with just as much enthusiasm. He wound his hand into her long hair and pulled her head back so he could deepen the kiss. They both moaned as the intimacy increased.

Then the moment was shattered by a knock at the door and a voice hissing, "Serenity! I know you're in there. You are supposed to be helping me! Now come out of there before I come in after you and drag you out kicking and screaming."

"Rei…" Serenity groaned as buried her face in Endymion's chest. "Why couldn't you have brought Jadeite with you. He would have kept her off my back."

He kissed the top of her head. "Sorry love, but Jed had other duties to attend to."

Serenity stepped reluctantly away from him and smoothed her hair and dress back into place. "I guess I better go before she decides to charbroil me. You're here for the whole weekend, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, I plan to stay the whole weekend. So I'm sure we'll manage to sneak in some alone time at some point."

She pressed one last kiss to his lips. "Come to my room tonight. I've been without my dark prince for entirely too long."

"Tonight, I'm all yours," he promised.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Darien came crashing back to reality with his head spinning. Bits and pieces of his past life had been returned to him when the Silver Crystal had been recovered, and he had experienced a few flashbacks from time to time over the years, but this was by far one of the clearest visions he'd ever had besides some of the events on the last day of the moon kingdom.

None of the ones that had been reincarnated had all of their memories of the past, but they knew the basic story. Serenity and Endymion had been in love and wanted to marry, but the witch, Beryl, wanted to take over the galaxy and rule it. She had also set her sights on Endymion and wanted him for herself. So she teamed up with Metallia and led an uprising, turning the people of Earth against the moon. She also coveted the Silver Crystal and wanted its power. So she had kidnapped Endymion's generals, who were in love with Serenity's scouts, and brainwashed them into fighting for her. Then they had attacked the moon and destroyed everything.

When everyone had been killed, Queen Serenity had used the Silver Crystal to send everyone to the future to be reincarnated on Earth and sealed the evil away. But when Beryl broke free from the seal and started up her old tricks again, the scouts had been reawakened, joined by Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.

The evil generals had resurfaced as well, acting as Beryl's puppets. But what Darien had learned during the time that he had spent in the Dark Kingdom when Beryl had brainwashed him as well was that the souls of his generals had not been lost as he had feared. As the sailor scouts had defeated Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoicite, their true essences had been sealed inside of four stones, stones that Beryl had given to him while he served her.

He had held on to the stones and kept them in a wooden box in the top drawer of his nightstand. He had received a major shock the first time he had touched those stones after he had been given the Golden Crystal from Helios. All four of his generals had appeared as apparitions to him and he had been able to converse with them and had done so several times since then. He knew that tensions ran high between the scouts and generals, so he had kept it a secret from everyone, even Serena.

But this latest flash of memory had gotten him thinking. Just how close had he and Serenity been in the past? The vision he'd just had made it seem like their relationship was much more complex than he had thought. He had questions, and those guys just might have the answers.

He hurried to the bedside table and opened the top drawer to pull out the box. He sat on the side of the bed and set the box beside him. He carefully lifted the lid to reveal the four stones nestled inside. One was golden orange, one deep forest green, one fiery red, and one that was icy blue.

He studied them for a long moment before scooping them up in his hand. The moment he did a fissure went through the air and four ghostly figures appeared. They all went down on one knee with their right hands over their hearts in salute.

"My prince, it's been a long time," Kunzite greeted him.

Darien gestured to all of them. "Stop that bowing. I told all of you before, I'm not a prince anymore."

Nephrite grinned as he got up. "Old habits die hard, I guess. So what can we do for you, Endymion?"

"The first thing you can do is stop calling me Endymion," Darien growled. "I'm known as Darien in this time."

"Now see, you've gone and upset him," Jadeite complained. "If you were solid I'd knock you upside the head."

"And if you were solid I'd strangle you to death, you little shit!" Nephrite fired back.

"Gentlemen, please," Zoicite pleaded. "This is hardly the time."

"Exactly! Pipe down!" Kunzite commanded. "What can we do for you, Darien?"

Darien took a deep breath. "I was just wondering how much you guys remember from the Silver Millennium."

"Hmmm…I don't know about the others, but my memories are pretty sporadic," Kunzite mused. "I remember you, of course, and Serenity, Minako, and the other scouts, along with some events that happened. But there are a lot of blanks."

"Same here," the other three confirmed.

"Why do you ask of the past? Is something wrong?" Nephrite asked.

Darien shook his head. "Not exactly. I've just got some decisions to make that could drastically affect mine and Serena's lives, and then I just had this flash of memory and I got curious."

"Perhaps you should start from the beginning," Zoicite prompted gently.

So Darien told them everything, about his acceptance to Harvard, Serena's insistence that he go, about the recent changes in their relationship, and the memory that he'd had. He had to admit that it was refreshing to talk to his old friends like this and get some of these things off his chest. Andrew was a great friend, but he hadn't been around during the Silver Millennium and Darien always tried to keep from talking about relationship issues in front of him because he knew that Andrew was dealing with his own demons because of Rita being so far away.

"That's a lot of things to consider," Zoicite commented quietly when Darien reached the end of his tale.

Jadeite's translucent form fell to the ground where he rolled as he howled with laughter. "That definitely sounds like you had an accurate memory to me. From what I can remember you and Serenity had a hard time keeping your hands and other body parts away from each other. I have to say I'm surprised that she's not in your bed right now."

Darien gulped. "So Serenity and Endymion were…"

"Yes. They were lovers," Kunzite confirmed. "It wasn't completely unheard of for engaged couples to sleep together before the actual wedding. But it was a little risky considering the fact that your engagement wasn't set in stone because of the tensions between the earth and moon."

Darien felt his face heat up at the word "lovers". He didn't know why it embarrassed him so much; after all, he was going on twenty years old and knew exactly how things worked between men and women. He'd just never actually experienced it.

Nephrite's figure joined Jadeite's on the floor. "Look how red his face is. If I didn't know any better I'd say our reincarnated prince is a vir…"

"If you finish that statement I swear I'll smash this stone quicker than you can blink!" Darien roared as he shot up from his seat on the bed. "What Serena and I have or have not done isn't the issue here! What I'm more concerned about is her safety if by some chance I do decide to go to Harvard. I wish you guys were really here. Then there would be four more people to help her if there was any trouble."

"Well thanks to Beryl's spell we're trapped like this," Kunzite commiserated sadly. "Believe me, I would like nothing better than to rejoin the land of the living. But I'm afraid that's impossible."

"Maybe not," Zoicite spoke up. "There is one possibility."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Nephrite asked.

Zoicite shrugged. "Nothing's guaranteed, I'm just saying that there's a chance it could work. It would take some research and planning. Helios's help would be valuable and Sailor Pluto as well if she can be contacted. But it could work."

Nephrite snorted. "And one wrong move could damn our souls to an eternity of nothingness."

"What the hell are you two idiots jabbering about?" Kunzite demanded. "You know I can't stand it when you start talking in riddles."

Zoicite rolled his eyes. "Let me see if I can make it simple for you to understand. Darien is the holder of the Golden Crystal and that crystal harnesses the power of Earth. Now nature is the basis for Earth's power and nature exists to create life."

Jadeite jumped up from the floor, an excited gleam in his ghostly eyes. "Are you saying that the Golden Crystal has the power to bring us back to life?"

"In a manner of speaking," Zoicite answered calmly. "Since our souls are held in limbo it would be possible for them to be returned to our bodies. But since our bodies are dead, life would have to be breathed back into them first."

"Whoa! Hold the phone there guys!" Darien exclaimed. "Are you talking about me bringing you guys back from the dead? I don't have that kind of power!"

Nephrite cocked his head to the side as he examined the reincarnated prince. "He does have a point, Zoi. After all, he's just a mere reincarnation and not our esteemed prince. I bet he doesn't even have a fraction of the talent and power that Endymion had."

Zoicite nodded. "Yes, that's probably true. What a shame. I'd had hopes that Endymion's soul would only grow stronger through reincarnation, but it seems that it has grown weaker instead."

That didn't sit too well with Darien either. "Now wait just a damn minute here!" he exploded. "I don't know who the hell you guys think you are, but I'll be damned if you come into my home and pass judgment on me. I don't know exactly what I did in my past life for you to put Endymion so high up on a pedestal, but I'll have you know that I'm just as much of a man as he ever was. So you better climb down off of your high horses and tell me what this grand idea of yours is before I start metaphorically busting some heads."

Jadeite and Nephrite were on the floor again, busting a gut at his outburst.

Kunzite passed an appraising look over him. "So Endymion is still alive in you after all. That's good to know."

Darien sat back down on the bed, chuckling himself when he realized that he had fallen right into Nephrite and Zoicite's trap and allowed himself to show his true feelings. He never let his guard down in front of anyone except for Serena and Andrew. But as he looked around at the smiling apparitions, he suddenly realized that they probably knew him as well as he knew himself.

"So what do we have to do?" he asked them.

"Grab a pen and paper and get ready to take notes. We've got work to do," Zoicite told him. "This isn't going to be easy."

Darien grinned. "Nothing in life ever is. Fire away!"

**A/N **So another story has started! Looks like Darien and the generals are cooking something up between them, and I have a feeling that the scouts aren't going to be too terribly happy with the outcome. Lots of fireworks are sure to come in the future between all of our couples. I'd like to know what you guys think, so if you get a chance hit the review button and drop me a line. Now I'm off to work on my other stories for a bit. Lots of love!

~Sere~


	2. You Want to WHAT!

**A/N **Hey, hey! Update time! I was really stoked to see how well the first chapter of this story went over. I apologize for such a long wait, but as a lot of you know I also have two other ongoing stories that I'm working on. I have absolutely nothing prewritten for this one and I'm making it up off the top of my head as I go, so if any one has any suggestions or ideas about what they would like to see, I would love to hear it. And since technically this is the prequel for Lunar Princess, I'm having to take my time and go back through both LP and GT to make sure I'm not contradicting myself too badly. All right! Time for me to give out my hugs to my amazing reviewers. There's a lot of you, so bear with me. BIG HUGS TO:

**Roseasweet**

**SlackerDee**

**Seredhiel05**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**xo Usako ox**

**TropicalRemix**

**jade2nightwing**

**sunbeam07**

**tiny2008**

**serenity-cosmos-10**

**sabina21**

**Serandi82**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**madorno81**

**GoldenDragon326**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**Kels**

**Daisy682**

**chimichurri**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**Hikari Urania**

**LBricker88**

**S dot Serenity**

**Chibi Kitt**

**amaramichelle**

**ElisabethBoleyn**

**Gryffindor-Sword**

**Swinkinator**

**KageNoNeko**

**rainbabie**

**haley**

Whew! Thank you so much! You guys rock! So I guess I should let you get on with it. Oh, quick update! I was hoping to have the next chapter of GT ready to go up by today, but it still needs a lot of editing and I'm not exactly happy with it yet. But I'm hoping to update both GT and Rekindled as soon as possible. I was also hoping to get a Halloween one shot out, but that may or may not happen as of now. October is an extremely busy month for me. Every year my hubby and I decorate our garage for Halloween like a haunted house so people can go through it, and this year we have been busy building some new displays so I've been a little tied up with that. But I haven't forgotten about you guys and I'm still working on my stories, just not quite as much as I normally do. Okay, enough out of me. Moving on!

_**ENJOY!**_

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 2

You Want to WHAT?

"Serena, I'm sorry!"

The blonde teen ignored the voice pleading with her from the slow moving car that was inching along beside her as she stomped down the sidewalk.

"Sere, please! I know you're mad, and you have every right to be. But if you would just listen to me for a minute."

She spun furiously, her blue eyes sparkling with righteous anger as she pinned her boyfriend with a glare that could blister paint. "Fine Darien! You want to talk, then talk!"

His voice suddenly deserted him. Reason number one was because she had taken him by surprise with her quick capitulation. He was used to it taking a lot longer to get her to listen to him when she was angry like this. And reason number two, she just looked so darn cute standing there with her red cheeks and flashing eyes that it made every other thought rush right out of his head.

After several seconds of silence, Serena rolled her eyes and stormed away again. "Cute, Darien. That tells me a whole lot. Thanks for setting everything straight for me."

Rational thought returned to him in a flash as he watched her retreating back. "Serena, wait!"

But she didn't acknowledge him as she disappeared through the sliding doors of the Crown Arcade. Darien quickly pulled his car into a parking place and jumped out to rush after her. He entered the arcade just as she was sliding onto a stool at the counter.

The place was deserted, but that wasn't unusual for this time of the morning. All of the kids that normally filled the place with laughter and the sounds of video games were in school and the adults that stopped by in the mornings for coffee and pastries were at work by now.

The door to the staff room opened and Andrew stepped out, his always welcoming smile on his face. But it faltered slightly when he was confronted with the unexpected sight of two of his best friends staring silently at each other across the room. Darien looked as beaten as a puppy that had just had a nice meaty bone taken away from it while Serena looked mad enough to rip the head off a lion with her bare hands.

"Uh, hey guys," he greeted uncertainly.

Serena spun in her seat and gave him a blinding thousand-watt smile. "Good morning, Drew! And how are you today?"

"I…I'm fine," he stammered, fighting the urge to take about five steps back from her. She may be smiling, but there was a gleam in her eyes that sent an icy shiver down his spine. This wasn't the cheerful, bubbly Serena that he was used to seeing. This was a highly enraged woman that looked capable of mowing down anyone or anything that got in her way, and it made him fear for his life.

"So what can I get for you today?" he asked, trying his best not to sound nervous. "It's a little early for a milkshake, but perhaps you would like one of my strawberry-banana smoothies."

Her maniacal smile grew even bigger. "Thanks Drew, but I think I could use something with more kick. I'll have a mocha latte with four shots of espresso and double the mocha with extra whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles."

Andrew eyed her cautiously. "That's a lot of sugar and caffeine. And since when did you start drinking coffee?"

Her expression changed so quickly that his eyes actually blurred as he tried to follow each individual changing feature. In less than a split second she went from looking like she was teetering on the border of insanity to resembling someone who would be capable of multiple murders without batting an eyelash.

She glowered darkly at him. "Is there a problem with my order?"

He actually did stumble back a few steps this time at the sound of her cold, even voice. Serena was positively scary when she was like this. "Not at all. I'll have it right up." He hurried over to the espresso machine.

"Stop terrorizing people just because you're in a bad mood," Darien sighed as he joined her at the counter. But he was careful to keep two seats between them when she turned a frosty glare on him.

"I am not in a bad mood!" she hissed. "This goes beyond being in a bad mood. I can't believe you stood me up!"

"I said I was sorry. I really didn't mean to oversleep. It just happened," Darien groaned, running his hands through his already messy hair.

Andrew returned with Serena's drink. "Wait a minute! You overslept? Man, I've known you since high school and I've never, ever known you to sleep in. You get up at sunrise even on the weekends."

"Thank you! Somebody else that agrees with me!" Serena snapped as she took a small sip of her diabetic inducing drink. "You've always driven me crazy with your early bird habits. It didn't matter if we'd been up most of the night fighting an enemy, you still always managed to be up early and look bright and chipper the next morning."

"I'm only human. Aren't I entitled to have an off day every now and then?" Darien grumbled, gratefully accepting the cup of coffee Andrew had automatically set in front of him. "I was up all night working on something and I must have passed out at some point."

Serena scanned him critically. He certainly looked like somebody that had pulled an all nighter. He was still dressed in the same clothes that he had worn yesterday and they were rumpled and wrinkled. His jaw was dark with more than just a five o'clock shadow. In all honesty, she had never seen him look so untidy. Darien was the type of guy that always prided himself on being immaculately groomed. Perhaps she was being too hard on him.

"What had you up all night?" she asked in a much softer tone. "I thought you said that you had gotten all your work done when I spoke to you last night. Did you forget an assignment or something?"

He shook his head. "No, this wasn't school related. Something came up unexpectedly last night, and you know how I am when I get started on things. I have a hard time putting them down once I get started."

Serena sniffed disdainfully. "Well that was a cryptically vague answer. You're telling me that I blew my longest track record ever for getting to school on time because _'something came up'_? I waited and waited for you this morning because you said that you would come pick me up. Now I'll get to start my weekend off with detention. Thanks a lot!"

"I really am sorry," he apologized again, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. Then he brightened some. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you skip today? I'll get you a doctor's note and everything to make it legit."

Andrew fell across the counter in shock. "You're encouraging her to skip school? Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?" He lunged for Darien's throat.

Darien scrambled off his stool and hid behind Serena. "Whoa! Down boy! It's really me, I swear!"

Serena turned in her seat, looking just as flabbergasted as Andrew. She quickly put a hand on his forehead. "Hmmm, you don't feel like you're running a fever. But you must be sick if you are willing to aid and abet juvenile delinquency."

Darien chuckled. "I know it's a little bit out of the norm for me, but this actually works out perfectly. There's something that I really want to talk to you about. And it'll be easier to do if we don't have to worry about your friends popping in unexpectedly."

She looked a little wary, but she nodded. "Okay. Just let me text Mina so she can tell the others that I won't be in school today. If I don't they'll all be over trying to break your door down. You know how they get when they don't know where I am."

Boy did he ever. The scouts had always been highly protective of their princess, but since the fight with Chaos they had turned almost stalkerish. Not that he blamed them. Serena had worried all of them after that battle. She had come close to maxing out her powers that day and the drain of using the Silver Crystal had taken a toll on her. She had been weak for days until she had recovered from it and it had made all of them realize how close she had come to dying to save them and the planet…again.

She pulled out her brand new cell phone that Darien had bought for her recently so that she could stay in touch with everyone easier and began tapping away on it as expertly as someone that had been texting for years instead of only a few months.

While she was busy doing that, Darien pulled Andrew over to the side and asked him to box up some tasty pastries for them to take with them, making sure to include Serena's favorite apple crumb coffee cake.

Andrew chuckled as he got the order together. "Well that will certainly get you back into Serena's good graces. They usually say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but that definitely applies in her case too. It makes me wonder where she puts it all to be as skinny as she is."

Darien couldn't help but grin. It was true; his girlfriend could put down more food than some people ate in three days just in one sitting. "I think sailor scouts must have a higher metabolism than other people. Whatever it is, I'm grateful since I've had to pick her up on so many occasions to keep her out of trouble. Could you see Tuxedo Mask trying to cart around an obese Sailor Moon?"

He hissed as he felt a sharp sting in his side and looked down to find Serena gazing up at him with an innocent expression on her face. "Geez, Meatball Head, that hurt. Did you have to pinch me so hard?"

She smiled sweetly. "Oh stop being such a wimp. You're supposed to be a super hero. But maybe that will teach you to not talk about a lady's weight behind her back."

Darien rubbed the tender skin of his side. "I wasn't talking about your weight. I was complimenting you on your slender figure."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure you were. Well I got the guard dogs off my back. So what's next?"

Darien picked up the box of pastries. "Now we get you out of public while you're wearing that school uniform before some truancy officer sees you and busts you for skipping."

Serena arched a blonde brow at him. "Need I remind you that this was your idea?"

He grinned at her. "I didn't hear you say no. Feel free to go on to school if you really want to."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "I didn't say that."

"Then let's go," he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the arcade to his car.

Andrew watched them through the large window and watched as they got in the red BMW. When Serena waved cheerfully at him as they pulled away he smiled and returned the gesture.

But once they were gone he sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. It was times like this that he really missed Rita. But it was only a few more months until her time in Africa would be done, and then she would be coming home. He had waited patiently all this time, he was sure he could wait a little longer.

* * *

Mina grabbed her books and sprinted for the door as the bell rang. It had been a long, boring English class without Serena sitting next to her. Although they couldn't speak during class, they usually managed to pass a few notes back and forth to help break the monotony. She didn't even have the luxury of staring at Yaten anymore since he and the other Starlights had left to go back to their home planet. Not that she'd had any deep feelings for the platinum haired, undercover pop star, but he'd been very easy on the eyes.

She ran into Lita and Amy as she approached her geometry class and felt her spirits lift. This was the one class that they all together. And while Amy would chastise her, Serena, and Lita for not always paying attention to what the teacher was saying, they also knew that their resident genius would lend them any notes they missed out on later. She wouldn't take the risk of having her future queen and fellow court members turning out ignorant after all. And next year promised to be even more fun since Raye was planning on transferring to the same school. Then the whole gang would be together.

"What's up?" Lita greeted as she dashed up to join them. Then she glanced behind Mina and frowned. "Where's Serena?"

Mina blew her bangs out of her eyes. She was really overdue for a trim. "Can you believe she's playing hooky? She messaged me a little while ago and said that Darien had something really important to talk to her about, so she's spending the day with him."

Lita's eyes narrowed. "That sounds like it could be pretty serious. You don't think they're still fighting about Darien going to America, do you? Serena said that they had reached a truce of sorts on the subject when I talked to her last night."

Amy shook her head. "I'm not sure, but it must be something terribly important. I've never known Darien to blow off his classes before. And for him to encourage Serena to skip…that's quite out of character for him."

"Maybe they just want some alone time together," Mina said slyly. "After all, we have been hanging around them quite a bit lately. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal."

Lita shrugged. "You're probably right. I don't blame her for taking the opportunity. She went through six months of hell thinking that he had forgotten about her only to find out that he'd been dead the whole time. I would do the same thing if I was in her position."

"Well in any case, I better make sure to make copies of all of my notes for her so she doesn't fall behind," Amy declared.

"Yeah, you do that," Mina said sweetly as she and Lita hid snickers behind their hands. They knew that if Amy made copies for Serena that she would do it for them as well.

They filed into the geometry room and settled into their seats where Mina and Lita spent the whole period exchanging notes under Amy's disapproving glare as they speculated on what was going on between the reincarnated price and princess.

* * *

Serena sat happily on Darien's couch munching on a huge slab of apple crumb coffee cake while she watched _Inuyasha _on his large, flat screen TV. This was a much better way to spend a Friday than sitting in class after boring class. School was going to let out for the summer in a couple of weeks anyway, so it wasn't like the teachers were covering anything new. It was mostly review.

Darien walked into the room, showered, shaved, and in fresh clothes while his dark hair glinted wetly in the light that poured in through his balcony doors. He smiled as he walked past Serena and into the kitchen where he poured himself another cup of coffee from the pot he had brewed and then leaned against the counter as he looked through the archway into his living room.

"You look comfortable," he commented conversationally.

She looked over at him and grinned. She had taken advantage of him being in the shower and had snuck into his bedroom to raid the drawer where he kept clothes that he had outgrown and kept there just for her when she stayed over. She was dressed in a pair of sweatpants that were still fairly large on her and an old Azabu High t-shirt from his high school days. Her feet were bare and tucked under her as she enjoyed her impromptu picnic on his sofa.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I figured if I was skipping school I might as well do it right. I saved you some breakfast. There's some of the strawberry and cream cheese strudel and chocolate filled croissant that you like."

Darien's lips turned up. "It's nice to know that you care enough to save me some food. I figured that you would have polished off the whole box by now."

She blew a raspberry at him and then squealed as she looked back at the TV where Inuyasha had just saved Kagome from an attacking demon. "I love this part! They are so cute together! But that Inuyasha needs some lessons in how to be romantic."

Darien chuckled as he came into the living room and sat down beside her. "You do realize that it's nothing more than a TV show, right?" He pulled a pastry out of the box and took a bite.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I do. But their story is sooo tragically romantic. I mean come on! I know Inuyasha and Kikyo were deeply in love with each other, but Kagome's a strong girl to just stand aside and watch him chase after a dead woman all the time. He's in love with Kagome just as much as she's in love with him. He just needs to wake up and see what he's got right in front of him instead of pushing her away all the time."

Darien couldn't help but laugh. "That may be true, but I can see where the guy is coming from. I did it to you too. Women can be complex and scary creatures."

Serena turned sideways in her seat to glare at him. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

He chewed thoughtfully on a bite as he tried to figure out the best way to phrase his answer. "When I met you, you scared the hell out of me. I had made it a habit to not let people get too close to me. But I knew with just one look that you would be capable of tearing down the walls that I had built around me, so I fought against it and teased you instead. In reality though, you had me hooked from the moment that failed test paper of yours hit me on the head. You turned and glared at me with those big blue eyes of yours and I fell like a ton of bricks."

Serena smirked. "Really? Are you sure it wasn't my impressive tiara throwing later that night at Molly's jewelry store that reeled you in."

Darien snorted. "You mean when you almost shattered every piece of glass in a mile radius with your wailing? Nah. Sure I thought Sailor Moon was cute, and I also had a dream princess that would visit me every night and beg me to find her crystal, but I couldn't get you out of my head."

Her face turned serious. "So are you saying that if I hadn't been Sailor Moon or the moon princess we would have ended up together anyway?"

He tapped the tip of her nose with a finger. "I know we would. I would have still been Tuxedo Mask and helped find the Silver Crystal, but if Serenity was someone else I would have told her that despite the fact that we had been together in a past life, I had found someone else to love in this lifetime."

Serena's eyes shined with tears. "That is probably the sweetest, most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

"I guess I could give Inuyasha some pointers, huh?" Darien chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee.

"You sure could," she replied with a smile as she glanced at the TV screen where the ending credits were scrolling across the screen. Then she sighed. "But in reality we have a story to rival theirs."

"Yes we do," he said softly as he reached for the remote and turned the TV off. "In fact, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

Her look turned wary. Although she, Darien, and all of the scouts had some memories from their past lives, they never really talked about them. "What do you mean?"

Darien reached down and retrieved a small wooden box from under the coffee table. "There's something that I've wanted to tell you about for a long time, but I wasn't sure how to tell you or how you would react to it. It goes back to the time when Beryl had me brainwashed and fighting against you."

Serena shivered. That was definitely one time period in her life that she wished that she could block out. Her heart had been shattered when he had been kidnapped by the Dark Kingdom queen and turned against her. And every time that she'd had to face him in battle it had felt like someone had been smashing the pieces of her broken heart under a boot heel and grinding them into the ground.

She sucked in a steadying breath and forced her voice to sound normal. "What about it?"

Darien smoothed a hand over the box. "When I was taken we had already defeated Jadeite and Nephrite. Beryl got rid of Zoicite right after she got me and then Kunzite fell shortly after. Not long before you met her and Metallia in the final battle, Beryl gave me some things. I've held on to them all of this time."

Jealousy screamed through Serena. "And what exactly did that twisted witch give you that you actually wanted to keep, Darien? What could you possibly want that had been hers?"

He took her hand gently in his. "Calm down. It's not what you think. In a way, what she gave me belonged to me more than it did her. So it was right that she gave them to me."

He opened the box to reveal four shiny stones. "As you know, every living being has both good and evil inside of them. When Beryl captured my generals they refused to serve her. So she locked away the pure parts of their souls in these stones and left behind nothing but the darkness inside them that she could manipulate."

Serena tilted her head to the side in thought. "So she split their souls in two? Is that even possible?"

Darien nodded. "Sure it is. It happened to me after the fight with Beryl, remember?"

"Oh yeah," she mumbled quietly. He was referring to his short sojourn as the Moonlight Knight when they were fighting against Alan and Ann. He hadn't yet recovered his memories of being Tuxedo Mask or Prince Endymion, but the part of his soul that had craved to protect her had broken away from him and had formed a new protector for his princess. It hadn't been until she had faced off against the two aliens and their Doom Tree that the two pieces of his soul had been reunited and his memories were returned.

"So something similar to that happened to them?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," he confirmed glumly. "The spell on them weakened when they killed the scouts that last day on the moon and they became themselves again. They were so distraught over what they had done that they…committed suicide." He winced as he said this last part, remembering how Princess Serenity's life had ended in the past.

"I can sympathize with them," Serena whispered as placed her hand on her chest in the exact spot Serenity had plunged Endymion's sword into her heart. "But if they went back to being themselves and died, why weren't they reincarnated like the rest of us? How did they fall back under Beryl's control again? How were they even alive in this time if they died?"

Darien shrugged. "I guess it was just like everything else phenomenal or miraculous that has ever happened in our lives, magic. The closest I can come to figuring is that their souls weren't free when they died because Beryl held them. So they were sealed away with her, Metallia, and the rest of the Dark Kingdom. When the seal was broken Beryl probably revived them and split their souls again, making sure to infuse them with so much dark energy that there would be no chance of them breaking free of her control again when it came time for them to fight against the scouts."

Serena regarded him carefully. "It sounds like you've given this a lot of thought and that you seem to have a lot more information than we girls do. So how did you come up with this scenario?"

Darien rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He hadn't come up with it alone. He and Zoicite had pondered different reasons for over two hours the night before, and this was the most plausible one that they had come up with. It was time to come clean with her.

He stood up, taking the box with him. "I'll be back in a minute. There's something that I want to show you. I just want you to promise me one thing, that you'll try to keep an open mind, okay?"

Her eyes widened. "Darien, you're starting to scare me."

He set the box on the table and went down on his knees in front of her. He gripped her hands that she had clenched tightly in her lap in his. "No, baby, don't be scared! It's just what I have to show you will be a shock, and I don't want you to wig out. But I promise that it's nothing bad. Don't you trust me?"

She took a deep breath. "Of course I do! It's just that you're acting so mysterious and bringing up things from the past that we never talk about and it's making me nervous."

Darien leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Don't get yourself worked up. Everything will make sense in a few minutes. Now just sit here and I'll be right back."

She gave him a tremulous smile. "Okay, I trust you. I'll stay right here."

He grinned and gave her another quick kiss. "I'll be right back."

He grabbed the box and hurried down the hall to his bedroom. Once he was inside with the door securely closed behind him he scooped the stones up into his hand. There was a slight fissure in the air as his general's spirits appeared before him.

They started to salute him, but stopped as they recalled his continued insistence to not do that. But Kunzite couldn't stop the slight inclining of his head as he greeted him. "Darien."

"Shhh!" Darien shushed him. "All of you, keep your voices down. I've got Serena out in the living room. I think it's time to reveal you guys to her."

Nephrite and Zoicite visibly perked up at his words. "The princess is here?"

Jadeite looked a little disheartened. "Just her? None of the others are here?"

Darien nodded. "I thought it best to tell her before we spring this on the scouts. I'm not sure what their reaction will be, and it would be best to have her on our side to keep them calm."

"Makes sense," Kunzite agreed. "I know for a fact that Venus's Love Chain can deliver a real sting when she's upset." He unconsciously rubbed his wrists.

"Jupiter's…er…shocking personality is nothing to sneeze at either. When she gets pissed you can't get within ten feet of her without getting zapped," Nephrite grumbled.

Zoicite shivered. "And even though she's quiet, Mercury can be pretty good at freezing you out when perturbed.

"But…but…" Jadeite stammered. "So Mars might try to light my ass on fire! It'll be worth it!"

"Damn it! I said to keep your voice down!" Darien hissed as Serena's voice floated down the hall.

"Darien, is everything okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"Everything's fine," he called back. "Just stay put and I'll be out in a minute." He turned back to the generals. "I guess we should get this over with. I want you guys to follow me but stay hidden just out of sight and don't come in until I signal you to. And I don't know how sensitive your phantom ears are, but be prepared. Serena is liable to screech loud enough to tear the roof off this building when she sees you. I just don't know if it will be good or bad."

Kunzite nodded as he and the others grinned. "We are all aware of Serenity's personality. She always conducted herself gracefully when the occasion called for it, but when she wasn't under the watchful eyes of the court she could become quite exuberant."

"I guess that's one way to put it," Darien muttered. Serena definitely possessed some of Serenity's most noble traits. She had her kind, loving heart and her ability to show compassion to just about everyone she ever met, almost to the point of naivety. Very few people crossed the reincarnated princess's path without walking away feeling lighter and happier than they had before. Instances where she conducted herself with more decorum were becoming more frequent as she grew older, but not being raised under the strict control of the moon kingdom court had allowed her bubbly personality to flourish since she never had to hide it.

Darien reached for the doorknob. "Okay, let's do this." He made his way down the hall, painfully aware of the four silent spirits ghosting along behind him. They fell back as he reentered the living room.

Serena looked up with a smile. "All right, what's going on? You've got my curiosity stretched so far that I don't think I can take it much longer. If it was closer to my birthday I would suspect a surprise of some kind, but that's a month and a half away."

Darien chuckled. "Well this is a surprise, but it doesn't have anything to do with your birthday. Like I said, I have something to show you."

She bounced up onto her knees where she was sitting on the couch. "So show me already! The suspense is killing me!"

He held up a hand. "Okay, okay! Just remember what I said before. Try to keep an open mind."

She drew a cross over her heart with a finger. "Got it! My mind's wide open. Now show me this surprise before I go crazy!"

Darien turned and gestured toward the hall. Serena's mouth fell open as four people that she never thought she would see again entered the room. Silence reigned supreme for several long, agonizing seconds as she gaped at the newcomers, seemingly frozen in place.

Darien grew concerned as her saw her eyes growing impossibly wider by the second and every drop of blood drained from her face, leaving it stark white. He took a step toward her. "Sere…"

The moment was shattered. "What are _THEY_ doing here?" she shrieked at the top of her lungs as she jumped to her feet.

Darien sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly very grateful that he lived on the top floor of the building and that there was only one other apartment on this floor that belonged to a man that traveled a lot and was hardly ever home. If he'd had any close neighbors they probably would call the police and report someone being murdered after hearing that scream.

All four generals dropped to one knee and bowed their heads, placing their right hands over their hearts as a sign of respect.

"Serena, let me explain," Darien begged.

"Explain what!" she cried. "I'm looking at the ghosts of four men that I've known to be dead for over two years and you expect me to just sit down and take it calmly. Have you lost your mind?"

"Princess, what the prince is trying to is that…" Kunzite began in his smooth even tone.

Serena's shocked blue eyes snapped to the head general at his words and she cut him off. "I saw you die. I saw you die in that tunnel." Her gaze flickered to Nephrite. "I saw you die too. You were both right in front of me. You turned into dust and disappeared. There's no way that you can be here in any form."

Zoicite spoke up in his calm, intelligent voice. "Normally that would be true princess. But since our souls were held captive by another we remained suspended in a sort of limbo, not able to pass on to the next life nor able to return to this world."

Her gaze turned suspicious. "But I defeated Beryl. When I did the spell should have been broken. Your souls should have been freed."

"It is a very dark and ancient magic that binds us," Nephrite informed her. "Beryl was a powerful sorcereress before she ever aligned herself with Metallia. The curse was able to withstand her death and keep us held captive. When we died the two parts of our souls were reunited and locked away inside those stones."

She still didn't look convinced. "And how do I know that this isn't some kind of a trap? No offense, but I have a hard time trusting anything you say since the last time I saw any of you guys you were trying to kill me."

"She's got a point." Jadeite agreed, sounding serious for once but his eyes twinkled in merriment. "But if I wasn't really me would I know about the oath that you and I swore to never reveal to Rei exactly who it was that locked the two of us together in her fire chambers overnight?"

Serena's forehead scrunched up as she searched through her muddled memories of her past life to find the event that he was talking about. When she did recall the time that Serenity had locked the earth general up with her friend, wonder spread across her face. "Omigosh! It really is the real you, isn't it?"

A big, goofy grin appeared on the golden haired general's face. "I would say in the flesh, but as you can see that wouldn't be exactly accurate."

Nephrite rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you're still telling bad jokes after a thousand years. They weren't funny then, and they aren't funny now."

Jadeite glowered at him. "You just don't have a sense of humor. All you care about is what your precious stars can tell you. You need to loosen up and learn how to have some fun!"

"There they go again," Zoicite sighed as a bickering match sprang up between the two. "I don't think they'll ever grow up."

"Enough!" Kunzite demanded loudly. "For god's sake, remember your places. You are protectors of Earth, not common brawlers. Now act with the dignity that is appropriate for your station or I will have Endymion set down your stones and take you out of this conversation."

Serena sat down hard, her head spinning from all that had been revealed. "I think I'm going to pass out."

Darien hurried to her side and gently pushed her head toward her knees as he whispered encouragingly to her. "Take long, slow, deep breaths. The dizziness will pass in a minute."

She did as he said and when the worst of the spell had passed she sat up and glared at him. "I can't believe you've kept this from me for over two years!"

He looked chagrined. "I didn't exactly. Even though I've had the stones since Beryl gave them to me, I was never able to talk to the guys until Helios gave me back the Golden Crystal."

Serena wasn't easily appeased. "It's been a year since we defeated Nehelenia! And don't try to pull the 'you were gone for six months' card on me! You found out about this before you left on that stupid plane, didn't you?"

His face turned guilty, but he didn't lie to her. "Yes, I did. But there was so much going on at the time that I didn't want to put more on you. We had just gotten rid of the Dead Moon Circus and almost died in the process, Rini had left to go back home, and then I popped the news on you that I was leaving too. That was a lot to take in."

"Don't you dare try to talk your way out of this!" she shrilled angrily. "I never keep things from you! I tell you everything! But you're always hiding things because you think it will protect me in some way, just like the time that you broke up with me because of those damn nightmares that kept telling you that I was going to die. You broke my heart to pieces because you couldn't come clean with me and tell me that you were having bad dreams. Why can't you just be honest with me?"

He pulled back at that question and looked deeply into her hurt filled, crystalline eyes and cursed himself for being a blind fool. When he had first met Serena she had only been fourteen, hardly more than a child, and his instincts had demanded that he protect from anyone and anything that may cause her harm, including himself. So he had always tried to shield her from anything unpleasant that didn't deal with whatever enemy they were facing at the time. But the Serena beside him now wasn't the same, bright-eyed adolescent that she had once been. She was now a strong, capable young woman on the verge of adulthood, and he needed to treat her as such.

"You're right," he said softly. "I need to stop treating you like a child and start respecting the fact that you're a mature young lady." He gave her a tender smile. "Where did my little Meatball Head go? It's like you grew up in front of my eyes and I never even noticed."

Her anger melted away and she returned his smile sweetly as she leaned her forehead against his, their bangs tangling together in a mixture of gold and black. "Don't worry, your Meatball Head is still here. Just because I've grown up a little doesn't change the fact that I'm still the same person I've always been."

Their breath was mingled and Darien leaned forward to kiss her. Just as their lips barely brushed, a gagging noise interrupted them.

Jadeite had his translucent hands clapped over his ghostly eyes. "It burns! Make it stop! You know the least you could do is put us back to sleep before going all mushy with each other."

Darien growled low in his throat. "A decent person would turn away and give us some privacy, you pervert! I swear you haven't changed a bit in a thousand years."

"Did you ever expect that he would?" Kunzite smirked from where he was looking out the glass balcony doors. Years of serving as guard to members of the royal family had taught him long ago to ignore personal moments that occurred with his charge. Nephrite had also looked away, studying the ceiling as if it had suddenly become very interesting. Zoicite had wandered over to one of Darien's massive bookcases and was perusing his collection of books carefully. But the look on his face clearly showed that he would have been blushing if he had been in his body.

But Jadeite had always been somewhat different from his companions. He had always taken his duties seriously and he was a superb fighter, but as Serena thought back through her hazy memories of the Silver Millennium she recalled that he had also been a jokester and a source of comic relief for all of them.

One such memory popped into her mind and she began to giggle softly. Soon it turned into full-blown laughter as she doubled over and clutched her stomach.

Jadeite looked bewildered. "What so funny?"

She sat up and wiped tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I was just remembering the time that Rei set you on fire for spilling punch all over her new dress that her aunt had sent her from Mars. You ran and jumped in the fountain and then pulled her in with you when she followed you to scream at you some more. You were both drenched."

A big grin lit up Jadeite's face. "Ah, yes! She was always so temperamental, but that was one of the things that drew me to her in the first place. I didn't care how many times she lit me on fire, I treasure each one of them."

Serena began to laugh again, but then she quickly sobered. She turned to Darien with a wide-eyed look. "The girls can't know about this. I don't know how they would react if they found out the generals existed in any form. We hardly ever bring up anything about the past, and every time somebody does they all get so sad and angry. They're all trying to move on with their lives. If they found out their past boyfriends were still hanging around as ghosts…" she pulled in a shuddering breath. "It could get really ugly."

Darien ran a hand through his hair. It was a nervous gesture that always gave him away whenever he had something important to say and wasn't sure how it was going to go over. "Well you see, Serena, there's more to the story."

A shiver ripped down her spine. She had a feeling that what he was about to say was going to be huge, possibly even life altering. She steeled herself for what was to come and sighed. "Okay. Lay it on me."

A couple of minutes later, pedestrians on the street twenty stories down stopped and looked around as they heard a high pitched voice scream, "YOU WANT TO WHAT!"

* * *

"This is boring," Lita grumbled as she picked at her lunch. "It's not as much fun when Serena's not around. I can't believe she skipped out on us just to have man time. I made her favorite tempura shrimp today and made sure to bring plenty. Now she's not even here to eat it."

Amy glanced up from her biology textbook. "It is quiet around here without her chattering. But I'm sure we'll meet up with her at some point today, so just hold onto it. She'll be grateful for it and probably scarf it all down to appease that never ending appetite of hers."

Lita chuckled. "You're probably right. She's such a little ball of energy that she has to keep herself fueled up. I bet these shrimp won't last two minutes in her presence."

Amy shook her head. "It's amazing that she doesn't suffer from a number of gastrointestinal problems because of her eating habits. I have warned her many times to slow down and chew her food properly, but she never listens."

Lita carefully resealed the container containing two dozen fried shrimp, two of her sweet, sticky rice balls, and a large slice of French silk torte. "That's Serena for you. Nobody gets in the way of her and her food. I guess that will never change about her. But I have noticed a lot of other changes in her recently."

Amy closed her book and took off her reading glasses before tucking both items away in her bag. She unwrapped her turkey and swiss on rye sandwich and took a small bite, chewing thoughtfully. She swallowed and replied, "She does seem to have matured quite a bit in the last few months. I have to say I'm very proud of her. I could hardly believe it when she scored a 92 on the geometry test last week."

Lita popped a piece of melon into her mouth. "That blew all of us away. Raye swears that she could hear Serena squealing all the way over at her school, and that's five blocks away."

Amy smiled indulgently. "Raye likes to accuse Serena of being overly dramatic, but she can be just as bad at times. While Serena's voice can reach above average on the decibel chart, there's no way that even her loudest wail could reach that far."

Lita rolled her eyes. "Leave it to you to have a scientific explanation for a joke." Then she nudged their other companion who was sitting next to her with her back against the trunk of the tree the were sitting under. "What's up with you? You're usually just as big of a chatterbox as Serena, but you've hardly said two words since we sat down."

Mina blinked a few times as if coming out of a daze. "Huh? Oh! I must have been spacing out. What were you saying?"

"Hold up! I know that look. You were thinking about a guy. Who is it? Spill!" Lita demanded rapidly.

"What are you talking about?" Mina muttered. "I wasn't thinking about anything like that."

"Uh, uh, uh," Lita admonished, wagging a finger in the blonde's face. "I know you too well. Your thoughts were definitely preoccupied by someone of the male gender."

Mina shrugged. "Dylan Kimaki asked me to go out with him tonight."

Lita's eyes widened. "Are you serious? You go girl! That boy is ten kinds of hot! What are you going to wear? Do you need any help getting ready? I'll come over if you want me to and help you with your hair and make up."

Mina gave a wry smile. "Calm down, Lita. And I don't need any help. I said no."

Amy and Lita both stared at her with their mouths open in shock.

"You turned him down?" Amy finally whispered.

Mina silently nodded, but a bloodcurdling screech tore from her throat a moment later when Lita lunged at her and tried to wrap her hands around her throat. She scrambled backward on her hands and feet to take refuge behind Amy.

"Don't let her get me, Amy!" she begged in her typical dramatic fashion. "I'm too young and pretty to die!"

Lita growled. "What you are is an airheaded, dingbat blonde that needs to have her ass kicked! How could you turn down a date with Dylan Kimaki? He is the most eligible boy in the entire school! He's hot, smart, and rich. He's not stuck up and has a great personality. What more could you ask for?"

"But there is just no spark between us," Mina snapped. "I'm not saying I don't think he's a great guy, but there's nothing there. I have no interest in spending any one on one time with him. So why should I give up my Friday night to suffer through yet another date that I already know is going to be awkward and probably end in disaster?"

Amy twisted her head around to look at her. "But Mina, you don't know that it will end up badly. There's a chance that you might actually have fun. You should have at least given it a chance."

"Amy, Amy, Amy," she sighed. "This is something that you can't measure by statistics or look up on your computer. The only bond that exists between Dylan and I is that of acquaintances, and that's it. Besides, I sense something brewing between him and a girl that sits next to him in English. They have a pretty strong soul bond that will only grow deeper as soon as they each take the chance to notice each other. Anyway, wasn't Raye saying something about all of us crashing at her place tonight?"

Lita nodded. "Yeah, she was. Her grandfather's gone to some convention and won't be back until tomorrow and Chad left this morning to visit with his family over the weekend. So she said we would have the place to ourselves."

Mina flipped her hair over her shoulder. "She's probably just looking for some free manual labor. I can't imagine that her grandpa will be back early in the morning. And with Chad being gone she'll need help running the shrine tomorrow. You know how busy that place can get on Saturdays."

Amy and Lita both sweat dropped when they realized that she was probably right. It sounded just like something their crafty, dark haired friend would do. They had all fallen into her trap on a number of occasions and had found themselves helping out around the shrine when they were busy or shorthanded. But in all honesty, none of them minded. The Hikawa Shrine up on Cherry Hill had been a second home to all of them since they were fourteen, and they were more than happy to lend a hand whenever they could.

After they had laughed a little at their friend's antics, they all quieted down. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Lita lay back on the grass with a sigh. "We really are pathetic, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?" Amy asked curiously.

Lita sighed again. "Look at us. I consider us to be a group of fairly attractive teenage girls, and yet it's Friday and none of us but Serena have any prospects of spending any meaningful time in the presence of anyone of the male gender. Instead we're all sitting around talking about having a sleepover like we're thirteen years old. Like I said, pathetic."

Amy looked crestfallen for a second before shrugging. "It's not that big of a deal. Besides, we should be concentrating on our educations right now. Having relationships would only distract us from what's important."

"If you start spouting a bunch of nonsense about how studying should come before guys I'll take that biology book you're so fond of and shove it down your throat!" Lita growled, but in a nonmenacing tone. "It's not fair that Serena gets to have all the fun! I am a red blooded teenage girl and I want a guy to adore me too!"

Then she pounced on Mina. "You can see soul bonds, right? You would tell me if I had a connection to anyone, wouldn't you?"

Mina nodded frantically under her friend's maniacal glare. "Of course I would, Lita. But as of right now I'm afraid that I haven't sensed anything between you and any guy."

Lita backed off, but she wasn't dissuaded. "Well I guess that just means that I haven't met him yet. He may go to a different school or live in another place entirely. I'm sure I'll meet him when the time is right. I just hate waiting."

Mina smiled understandingly at her, but on the inside she felt like crying. How did you tell your best friends that because of one greedy witch's plot they were damned to spend the rest of their lives without their soul mates?

Sometimes it was a curse to be a descendant of Aphrodite. There were times that she truly wished that she didn't have the ability to see the invisible strings that connected people together. It made it hard to not meddle in other people's lives. When she saw two people that shared a strong bond she felt a need to push them together. The opposite was true when she saw a couple together that wasn't meant to be.

Take Andrew for example. He and Rita had been together for a few years now, and he was completely devoted to her. He had sent her off to pursue her dream in Africa while he waited here patiently for her return, but Mina had known the first time that she saw them together that they weren't meant to be. The red string that tied Andrew to his soul mate extended off far into the distance until it faded from sight. She had wanted to tell him this many times, but her conscience told her that the interference wouldn't be appreciated. The last thing she wanted to do was alienate a friend, so she kept her mouth shut and hoped that he would figure it out on his own.

Every soul ever born had but one soul mate. No matter how many times the souls died and were reborn, they would be forever bonded to their mate. Not everyone was lucky enough to encounter their soul mate in every lifetime. They may marry someone else and have a family and a relatively happy life, but something deep inside them would always feel like it was missing something.

Mina swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed in her throat. When she looked at Serena and Darien she could see their bond shining brightly. The strings that held them together weaved an intricate pattern. But when she looked at Lita, Amy, and Raye, there was nothing there. There were no strings leading off in the direction of the ones they were meant to be with, because their soul mates were dead thanks to Beryl. And because of the hold that she'd had on their souls they hadn't been reborn in this lifetime like the rest of them.

A flash of platinum hair and serious gray eyes filled her vision. She had found herself thinking of her lost love a lot recently. Normally her thoughts of him had always centered around that last horrific day on the moon and the evil glint in his brainwashed eyes as he had run her through with his sword, but other memories had started to overshadow the ones full of death, blood, and pain.

She had also begun having dreams. Just last night she had dreamed of her past life and the night that her tall general had taken her into his arms for the first time. It had been the night of Princess Serenity's sixteenth birthday ball. She had been making her rounds through the crowd when a man that had indulged in too much champagne had staggered drunkenly into her and sent her stumbling blindly into someone. A pair of warm hands had grasped her arms lightly. She had looked up to thank her rescuer and had been struck speechless by the weight of emotion that had slammed into her. One look into the depths of those gray eyes and she had been lost.

She came out of her musings as Lita nudged her in the ribs. "Hey are you still with us? The bell rang, so we have to get back to class."

She shoved the ancient memories far into the back of her mind. "Oh right! I guess I better get going then. Miss Yamata will give me detention for sure if I'm late to her class." She jumped up and grabbed her bag.

"Mina, are you okay?" Amy asked, concern evident in her voice.

Mina smiled brightly. "Ha ha! Who, me? I'm fine. I've gotta run. Catch you girls later!"

"Do you get the feeling that she had something pretty heavy on her mind?" Lita muttered to Amy.

The blue haired girl nodded. "I know Mina has a tendency to space out, but the look on her face was so serious. I thought she was about to cry."

The two of them looked after their blonde friend, wondering what she could have been thinking of to bring her normally cheerful spirits so low.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Serena reiterated as she bit into her fifth slice of pepperoni pizza. "You guys seriously think there's a chance that your souls can be returned to your bodies? Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong believer in miracles, but that sounds like a long shot to me."

Zoicite pulled his fascinated gaze away from watching her inhale the food like it was the last on Earth. "It is a highly feasible probability if the magic is done correctly. If our bodies are resuscitated and are capable of sustaining life again, and if the spell holding our souls can be broken, our essences could be channeled back into our bodies once more. It would require an intense amount of control though. One slip, and our souls would spiral away."

Serena looked worriedly over at her boyfriend. "But Darien, you've only used the Golden Crystal once against Nehelenia. Do you really think that you can control its power enough to pull this off?"

He nodded. "I think I can. Endymion was familiar with how to use the crystal, and it felt instinctive when I used it before. I also plan on seeking Helios's guidance since he has more knowledge about it than anyone. Nephrite's offered to reteach me some forms of meditation that I knew in the past that should help. The big thing that concerns me is whether or not this is supposed to happen. We know some of what our future is like. We know that the scouts are with us in Crystal Tokyo, but nothing was ever said about the generals. We need to talk to Trista and see if this is how things are supposed to go or if we would mess up the timeline by doing this."

Serena chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "That may be easier said than done. When she's in this time I can get in touch with her with a simple phone call. I can usually reach her at the time gate fairly easily too. But if she's in another time she's almost impossible to contact. I guess I can try though."

She closed her eyes and felt out through the bond she shared with her scouts. She sensed the inners right away since they were so close. She pushed out farther and felt the faint energy signatures coming from Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru, who were currently traveling in Europe. But there was no sign of the time guardian.

She withdrew deeper into her mind and reached past the physical world and into the fourth dimension where the gates of time stood. There she sensed not only Sailor Pluto's mysterious aura, but a lighter one as well.

'_Princess, did you have need of me?' _Sailor Pluto's thoughts touched hers.

Serena sighed in relief. _'Yes I do, if you can spare a moment. Darien and I have something really important that we would like to talk to you about.'_

'_Of course, your highness. I will join you in a moment,' _Pluto replied immediately.

Serena pulled back. She blinked her eyes open and found herself back in Darien's living room with five pairs of eyes watching her intently.

"Pluto was at the time gate. She should be here soon," she told them.

A few minutes later a portal opened in the middle of the room and Sailor Pluto stepped out of it. She bowed before them. "You called for me, your highnesses?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "Trista, how many times do I have to tell you to lighten up and stop being so formal?"

Pluto gave a rare smile. "Old habits die hard I'm afraid." Then she noticed the room's semi transparent occupants. "Ah yes, I thought it was getting to be about time for this conversation."

She tapped her staff on the floor and the portal closed. "I apologize for it taking me a few minutes to arrive, but Small Lady was visiting me and I took the time to make sure she returned home safely before I came. I figured that since you're her future parents that you would understand."

"Of course we do!" Serena exclaimed, going a little misty eyed at the mention of the daughter she would one day have. "I haven't seen her in so long! It's been almost a year. How is she doing?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Pluto replied as she transformed to her civilian form and took a seat in an armchair. "She's coming up on her thirteenth birthday, and according to Neo Queen Serenity she's growing more obstinate by the day. King Endymion laughs it off and says that it's just a phase and that she'll outgrow it."

"He would," Serena muttered, shooting a glare at Darien.

"Hey! Don't get mad at me. I haven't done anything yet!" Darien cried indignantly. "You can't blame me for something that my future self did."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Whatever! Let's get back on the subject. Obviously you know why we asked you here, Trista. I know you can't really tell us anything about the future, but we have to know how it will impact the timeline if we bring the generals back to life. The last thing we want to do is disrupt the future."

Trista regarded her appraisingly. "You have already ensured the proper progression of the timeline by seeking my advice. If you had proceeded without my help the consequences could have been dire. The glimpse you saw of your future when you traveled to Crystal Tokyo only showed you a small portion of what will come to be. You already know that you and Darien become king and queen and that Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter are still your loyal guardians, but what wasn't revealed to you at that time was the existence of Endymion's guard. Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite were present in the future as well. They fell during the Dark Moon's attack on Crystal Tokyo along with the king and fell into a deep sleep like everyone else. Of course everyone was revived when you defeated the Wiseman."

Serena bounced excitedly in her seat. "So we are meant to bring them back then?"

Darien laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Bring the enthusiasm down a bit, Sere. Trista, you said something about dire consequences before. What did you mean by that?"

Trista's amused expression at her princess's antics sobered. "I've always said that the future is not guaranteed. There is always at least one alternate timeline that stems off from the main stream. As decisions are made that defy these alternate futures, they disappear. If you two had decided to jump into this without consulting me first, it would have backfired on you and the generals would have been lost. Now I can guide you on the correct path. And my first piece of advice is this; you are going to have to include the inner scouts in this plan for it to work."

Serena blanched a little at the thought. "Are you sure? I was kind of hoping to leave them out of this until it was a done deal. The generals aren't exactly their most favorite people in the world. They don't hate them exactly, but there are definitely some negative feelings where they are concerned. I just don't see them cooperating easily. Mina and Amy may be fairly easy to convince. But Raye and Lita…" she shuddered. "I think I'd rather fight Chaos again rather than get them riled up."

"Nonetheless, you'll need their help," Trista told her. "It will take a group effort to make your plan a success. The Golden Crystal can restore their bodies to a living state, and the Silver Crystal should easily be able to break the curse on their souls, but it will take the power of the planet that their souls are connected to for their essences to return to their bodies."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight," Kunzite interjected. "Are you saying that the only way we can reclaim our lives is if the scouts help us?"

Trista sat back, crossing her arms and legs. "In a nutshell? Yes. Without the planetary energy of the scouts, you will either stay locked up in those stones or spend eternity in nothingness."

"Well that's just great!" Kunzite muttered sarcastically, sharing a look of disbelief with Nephrite and Zoicite.

Jadeite remained quiet for a moment before letting out a strangled growl of frustration and throwing his hands in the air. "That's it then! It's over! Rei would rather see me burnt to crisp than help me! We are completely and royally screwed!"

* * *

Raye's feet drug the ground as she made her way out of the private girl's school she attended. This had been a very strange day and she was glad that it was over. All she wanted to do was go home and try to relax. The shrine was closed for the afternoon since her grandfather and Chad were both gone and she was hoping to have some quiet meditation time in front of the sacred fire before the other girls came over later.

She had felt really out of sorts since the night before when she had woken up from a disturbing dream. Normally speaking she was used to having dreams that were out of the ordinary, that was just part of being psychic, but this one had left her shaken.

Since her awakening as Sailor Mars almost three years before, she'd had a handful of dreams about her past life in the Silver Millennium. Most of them centered around her princess and her sister scouts, but that damn Jadeite had managed to worm his way into a few of them over the years. Those dreams in particular had always left her with an empty feeling gnawing in the pit of her stomach when she woke up

But the one she'd had last night had been different. It had seemed more like a premonition of the future rather than just a random dream.

She had dreamt that she was sitting on the stairs leading up to the shrine watching the sunset just like she always liked to do when she wasn't busy with something else. An edge of the blazing ball of light was just barely still visible when she felt someone sit next to her.

She looked over to find Jadeite sitting there, his always unruly golden curls falling into his bright blue eyes as he also watched the sun make its descent. Instead of the gray uniform that he always wore in her dreams and memories, he had been dressed casually in a pair of faded blue jeans, a red t-shirt, and a pair of black sneakers.

He had turned and had given her a heart stopping smile that she could distantly remember from the happier days of the Silver Millennium, before Beryl had come along and destroyed everything.

Neither one of them said anything. They just sat in companionable silence until the sun's final rays disappeared and the sky began to darken into shades of dark blue, deep purple, and red.

Somehow she had come to be curled up against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. She stirred when she felt his breath against her ear as he whispered softly, "I love you."

She looked up into those mesmerizing, perfect pools of blue and replied softly. "I love you too."

Then he had leaned in and given her the sweetest kiss.

That had been when she had woken up. She had lain still, staring up at the ceiling for several long minutes until her vision began to blur. When she had reached a hand up to her face she had been surprised to find tears pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks.

She had gotten up angrily and stomped to the fire room where she threw herself down in front of it. She had always sworn that she would never cry for any man. Her mother may have passed away when she was young, but she could still remember the tears that the beautiful, gentle woman had cried over her shallow, worthless father. He was a vain and petty man that had broken the vows to stand by the woman he married in sickness and in health when he had hired a nurse to take care of his terminally ill wife and took off to hobnob with the rich and famous to further his career.

Raye thanked her lucky stars everyday that she had her grandfather. He had been there with her during her mother's illness and they had leaned on each other for emotional support. And then when her mother had quietly and peacefully departed this world, the old priest had stepped forward and offered to raise her, saving her from endless years of being raised by a procession of nannies that would have been more interested in her father's millions than caring for a motherless little girl with strange abilities.

She'd had very little contact with her father since coming to live at the shrine. She received an abundance of expensive and luxurious gifts that had been picked out by his secretary for her birthday and Christmas, and a very generous allowance was deposited into an account in her name every month, but that was the extent of it. He had tried to get her to attend some functions with him when he was up for reelection a couple of years ago, but she had put her foot down and refused to be his campaign pawn.

After that she hadn't heard from him personally until the First School for Girls that she had been attending since she had moved to the shrine had informed him that she was transferring to Juuban High next year. He had called and raised hell, telling her that she was throwing her whole future away if she insisted on pursuing a _public _education.

She had just about bitten a hole through her tongue, but had remained quiet until he had finished his tirade. Then she had calmly, but caustically informed him that she was changing schools to be with her friends, and that if Juuban High had been good enough for her mother that it was good enough for her. Then she hung up on him and he hadn't called back since.

She looked up, surprised to see that she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had already arrived home. She climbed the steps wearily, the lack of sleep the night before had left her feeling dazed and stupid. She had sat in front of the fire for hours after waking from the dream, but it had been unusually silent.

With the shrine closed for the day, the grounds were almost deserted. Instead of the hordes of teenagers looking to buy charms, there were only a few older people either strolling around enjoying the peaceful scenery or offering prayers.

She hurried to her room, thankfully without being noticed. She tossed her schoolbag into a corner and exchanged her uniform for her roomy and comfortable priestess robes. Feeling a little more like herself, she made her way into the kitchen where she flipped on the radio and grabbed a quick snack. The apple, peanut butter, and graham crackers washed down with cranberry juice did even more to replenish her flagging energy.

Filled with renewed purpose, she made her way into the room that held the sacred fire. She sank to her knees in front of it and let the scorching heat wrap around her like a comforting blanket. She focused on the dancing flames and withdrew deep into her psyche. She had a feeling that something big was about to impact the lives of her and her friends, and if it was a new enemy she wanted to be forewarned.

After several minutes of intense concentration and meditation, the fire roared higher. She closed her eyes to see what visions the sacred flames would grace her with, only to be confused by what she saw.

She saw everyone as they had been during the Silver Millennium. Serenity was in her flowing white dress and whispering to a chuckling Endymion who was covered by his black and silver armor with his long, red lined cape dancing in the wind. Venus was nudging Kunzite, trying to coax a smile from the stern faced man. Jupiter had Nephrite in a headlock and Mercury had her head pressed close to Zoicite's as they conversed in low tones.

Jadeite turned to grin at her. "This is the way that it's supposed to be, Firefly." And then he grabbed her hand.

Everything swirled and changed. Serenity and Endymion changed into Serena and Darien. Serena was wearing her favorite short, white summer skirt and light pink top while Darien was in jeans and a black t-shirt. The black haired man was tugging on a long streamer of golden hair as he teased the blonde about the rate she was scarfing down an ice cream cone. Kunzite was laughing at something Mina was saying. Lita was shrieking with laughter as Nephrite held her down and tickled her, and Amy and Zoicite sat back with their fingers entwined as they watched all of this in amusement.

All of the girls were in their civilian forms and the generals had all traded their gray uniforms for modern jeans, slacks, t-shirts, button downs, and polo shirts.

Jadeite was once again in the jeans and red t-shirt that he had worn in her dream. He leaned down to whisper huskily in her ear, "We can be that way again, Raye, if you'll just give us a chance."

Her violet eyes snapped open, staring blindly into the flames as they returned to normal. Her breath rasped harshly in her lungs as she fought to draw in precious oxygen and her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

Once her body had calmed to a normal level, she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled unsteadily from the room. When she got outside she sank down onto the wooden porch, grateful for the cool breeze that dried the perspiration on her skin and helped clear her head.

"What in the world was that about?" she muttered to herself. "Why would I have a vision of Jadeite and the other generals being in this time? They are all dead and gone. And even if he was alive, I wouldn't want that son of a bitch back in my life."

It wouldn't be fair to say that she harbored any hatred toward the blonde general that had been Sailor Mars's lover in the past, but there was a definite feeling of anger and mistrust. Her rational brain knew that the Jadeite that she had fought on that last day on the moon and then here in this time had been nothing more than a brainwashed puppet that Beryl held the strings to, but that couldn't completely erase the images in her head of the man she'd once loved killing her in cold blood or the newer memories of him attacking her and her friends on numerous occasions.

So even if he had survived Beryl and had been saved by the Silver Crystal, she was pretty sure that she wouldn't want to have anything to do with him. But she didn't have to worry about that since Nephrite had taken great pleasure in telling her and the other scouts about how Beryl had taken him out in a fit of anger after his many failed attempts to gather energy. Sure, her heart had cracked when she started remembering the past and what he had meant to her, but the Jadeite she had loved belonged in ancient history.

She tilted her head back and watched the fat, white clouds drifting lazily across the blue sky. Life had been so peaceful the last few months. In fact, the scouts were enjoying one of the longest stretches of not fighting they had experienced since they had taken on their roles as the protectors of Earth. Usually they had barely defeated one enemy before another popped up, but there had been no sign of any negative activity since Serena had freed Galaxia from Chaos's control.

She still couldn't shake the feeling that something was heading their way, something big that was going to change their lives forever. She didn't understand the vision that the fire had given her. Maybe it meant that something from their past was going to come back to haunt them. But as of right now she couldn't be for sure.

She snapped her fingers and a ball of fire appeared in her palm. She gazed at it with a determined smile on her face. "Whatever it is, bring it on. I'm ready for it."

**A/N **Ha! She just thinks she's ready for it. She has no idea what is about to come crashing into her life. Won't she and the others be surprised? Okay, so Raye and Mina each had some introspective moments in this chapter, next up will be Lita and Amy. Also Serena and Darien have to find a way to break the news to the scouts about bringing the generals back to life. Lots of tears and tempers are definitely in the future. Some of the girls may take this better than the others, but they all have some issues that they need to work out. The real fun will happen once we have the guys living and breathing again. I can't wait to play with all of my little couples. Oh, the possibilities! LOL! As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave me all the reviews you want and tell me what you think. Gotta run! Lots of love!

~Sere~


	3. Conflict of Interest

**A/N **Whoo hoo! Update time! I didn't think I would have this chapter ready any time soon, but GT and Rekindled were giving me a headache. So I took a break and started working on this and couldn't stop. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

I know this is a few days late, but Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all of my American readers out there! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Mine was great, but I think I'm a little sick of turkey for now. I also hope I don't have to peel another sweet potato for a year…LOL!

Anyway, enough of that. It's time for me to hug my reviewers. Let me get my list out here. BIG HUGS TO:

**sabina21**

**mandii-xo**

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**GoldenDragon326**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**xo Usako ox**

**SlackerDee**

**applenica**

**S dot Serenity**

**jade2nightwing**

**snoopykid**

**Seredhiel05**

**samsox**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**KageNoNeko**

**Jaguarsolaris**

**chimichurri**

**Forest Sentry Koneji**

**Tiny2008**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**anime-lover10**

**Hikari Urania**

**Charmed Serenity3**

**Isis2010**

**Rainbabie**

Thank you so very much for your wonderful reviews. They definitely inspire me to keep moving forward. So saying that, I'm going to let you get on with the story.

_**ENJOY!**_

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 3

Conflict of Interest

_ZAP!_

"Damn!" Lita cursed and jerked her hand away from the electrical outlet as blue sparks shot from it when she reached to unplug her mixer. She was happy that she and her friends were enjoying a peaceful life for once, but not having an enemy to use her powers against was causing her body to store up an abundance of electricity. The girls had been commenting lately that she shocked them every time they touched her.

"Maybe I can talk the girls into transforming and us training a little bit tonight," she muttered. "That would be a nice way to discharge some of this energy. Besides, just because we don't have any enemies after us doesn't mean we should slack off on our training. We should stay prepared for any threats that may come at us."

She peeked into the oven to check the cookies that she was baking to take to the shrine tonight. Determining that they were done, she pulled the baking sheet out and transferred the warm, gooey cookies to a rack so that they could cool. She had made four-dozen of Serena's favorite double chocolate cookies; she just hoped that they were enough.

Of course the question remained whether or not Serena would even show up tonight. Ever since she had defeated Chaos the blonde princess had been spending a lot of time with her prince.

Lita didn't blame her. Serena and Darien shared a strong bond together, and it had just about torn the girl apart when she had gone six months without a single letter or phone call from her soul mate. It was only natural to want to cling to him now that he was back in her life.

Something sparked inside the tall, auburn haired girl, and she was horrified when she identified it as being jealousy. She was actually jealous of her best friend! Not that she wanted Darien for herself or anything, he was definitely not her type, but she was jealous of the fact that Serena had such a close relationship with someone and was able to share her life with him.

She snorted in disgust. "Get over yourself, Kino! You can't hold it against Serena that she has a boyfriend and you don't."

She felt bad for having such negative thoughts about her best friend and tackled the dirty dishes in the sink with more energy than was necessary as she blocked out the dark feelings. There was no way that she would jeopardize her friendship with Serena just because she hadn't been able to land a man yet.

She knew that the problem was hers alone. The fact that she was as tall, or in some cases taller, than most guys sent most of the prospective boyfriend candidates running for the hills. It also didn't help that she came off as being brusque, but that was just who she was. She'd had a few short lived relationships, but they never stuck around for long.

"That's their problem," she muttered as she finished the last dish. "If a man is not strong enough to stand up to me, then I don't want him anyway. I'm not going to turn myself into some weak little woman just to play on some guy's ego. There has to be someone out there that can accept me as I am."

She felt bolstered after her declaration and glanced at the clock on the microwave as she dried her hands. She had an hour until she was supposed to meet the girls at the shrine. That was just enough time to grab a shower and pack up the cookies. She was going to go and spend a fun night with her friends. There was no sense in moping around about her lack of a boyfriend.

She paused as she was reaching to turn off the small TV she kept in the kitchen for company while she cooked. It was turned to some random sitcom that she hadn't been paying attention to, but as an actor appeared on the screen she couldn't help but stare.

The man had slightly long hair that was wavy. It was a deep mahogany color that complimented a pair of slate blue eyes to perfection. He was definitely a hot piece of eye candy.

Lita gritted her teeth as a face flashed through her mind. _Nephrite! _This guy reminded her of him. He wasn't nearly as tall or as broad as the former earth general, nor did he possess his commanding presence, but his coloring was amazingly similar.

Lita had always considered herself to be the lucky one out of all of the scouts. She hadn't been forced to face Sailor Jupiter's lover from the Silver Millennium in this life the way the other scouts had. Nephrite had already been killed by the time her scout powers had awakened, but she still had memories of him from the past. Some of them were of happy times that they had spent together, but the most predominate one was of the cold look on his face when had drawn his sword across her throat and ended her life.

"Stupid idiot!" she snapped as she clicked off the TV and banished his look alike from view. "Why did you have to go and get yourself captured by Beryl? Things could have turned out differently if you hadn't. Even if we had still been defeated and killed, you would have been reborn like the rest of us. Then I wouldn't be looking for someone that would treat me the way you used to."

Even in her past life people had usually been intimidated by her. She had spent most of her time at parties and balls either standing around while everyone else danced or doing security patrols. The fact that she was a princess had done little to enhance her social life.

That all had changed quickly when Serenity had begun sneaking around behind her mother's back to see Endymion after the tensions between the earth and the moon had risen to dangerous levels. The scouts had all covered for their princess, and Endymion's generals had done the same for their prince.

Jupiter had teleported down to Earth one night to retrieve Serenity and bring her home and had literally bumped into General Nephrite in the rose garden where he was keeping watch over both of the royals. She had met him a few times when they had still been nothing more than children, but it had been years since she had seen him last.

She still remembered how her breath had caught and her heart had pounded at the impressive sight the fully-grown man before her had made. His eyes had twinkled as he smirked down at her.

"Well, well, if it isn't Princess Makoto of Jupiter," he drawled. "Fancy running into you here tonight. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She fought to find her voice. "Good evening, General Nephrite. As I'm sure you're aware, I've come to escort Princess Serenity back to the moon. She has been gone for quite some time, and we don't want the queen to become suspicious."

He nodded thoughtfully. "It would not be good for her to find out right now. Endymion and the princess are just around the corner by the fountain. But might I suggest we give them a few more minutes together. Serenity seemed to be in an emotional state when I looked in on them just before your arrival and my prince was comforting her."

She had blushed at the thought of interrupting an intimate moment between the two and agreed hastily. "Of course. I know it's hard on them to be apart the way they are."

He offered his arm to her. "Would you care to sit with me? It's not often that I have company while on guard duty."

Her blush had deepened as she had taken his arm and he led her to a bench where they sat. He had engaged her in light, but entertaining conversation, asking all about her life while sharing bits and pieces of his own. He learned that she loved cooking as much as fighting, and she discovered his ability to decipher the stars.

It had been the start of something huge between them. They began spending more and more time together whenever they were both on duty and their respective charges were together. Before they knew it, they had fallen in love. But it wasn't meant to be.

"Irresponsible jackass!" Lita whispered harshly as she wiped away the few tears that had sprung to her eyes at the memories. "If he was here in front of me right now I'd kick his ass for being so stupid!"

She pushed the memories firmly from her mind and stomped down the hall to take her shower. There were men out there that were just as good, if not better than Nephrite. She didn't need him and wouldn't want him even if he were there. She had suffered through enough emotional turmoil because of him. This was her new life, and she was moving on.

* * *

"Done!" Amy cheered triumphantly as she closed her book and slid her finished paper into a folder. She was quite pleased with the progress she had made. After a few hours of hard work she had managed to complete all of the assignments that she had been given. Now her weekend was free to do as she pleased.

There was a knock on her bedroom door before it opened a crack and Dr. Mizuno stuck her head in. "I'm off to the hospital, sweetheart. I'm on duty tonight."

Amy smiled and nodded. "Okay, mom. Have a good night."

"You too, dear," her mother told her. "I hope you have some plans other than rattling around this apartment all night. You're a teenager and it's Friday night, you should be out having fun. Studying is all well and good, but you have to balance your life too."

Amy shook her head in amusement. "I know, mom. That's why I went ahead and did my work now. I'm meeting the girls later for a sleepover up at Cherry Hill."

Dr. Mizuno smiled, but it looked a little sad. "That's nice."

"Is something wrong?" Amy asked in concern.

"Oh, it's nothing!" her mother hastily reassured her. "It's just that…" her voice trailed off.

"Just what?" Amy insisted.

Dr. Mizuno pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked in to sit on the edge of the bed. "Amy, sweetheart, I know we've never really talked about it, but I've often wondered if mine and your father's divorce has messed up your life somehow."

Amy was shocked. "What do you mean? I understand why you and daddy split up. You were fighting all of the time. It's better this way."

"Better for us, maybe," Dr. Mizuno sighed. "But sometimes I wonder if it was the best thing for you. You became so withdrawn after the divorce. You pulled away from everyone and hardly spoke. That was why I agreed to let you transfer to Juuban High. I was hoping that you would make friends."

"But I have made friends," Amy said in confusion. "Serena, Raye, Lita, and Mina are the best friends anyone could ever ask for."

"That's not exactly what I meant," her mother answered. "I am very grateful to those girls and I love each of them like they were my own, but I was speaking more about meaningful relationships."

"A...are you talking about boys?" Amy sputtered in surprise.

Dr. Mizuno sighed. "Yes, I'm talking about boys. I know you have your friends and that you're really close to them, but they are girls. You just turned seventeen. Aren't you interested in dating?"

Amy's cheeks flushed deep red. "Well, yes…but I just haven't found anyone that interests me yet. I'm sure I'll start dating when I meet the right person."

Her mother smiled. "Well that's a relief! I was afraid that perhaps you were scared to get into a relationship because of the poor example your father and I set. It's also good that you are taking your time to find someone compatible with you. Don't get me wrong, I loved your father, a part of me always will, but we were just too different. I got caught up in the romance of it all. He was the carefree artist and I was the serious med student. I'd always heard that opposites attract and thought that we'd balance each other out, but it didn't quite work out that way. I don't regret marrying him though. If I hadn't we wouldn't have had you."

"So what you're saying that I should find somebody that I have at least some things in common with, right?" Amy asked.

Dr. Mizuno nodded. "It doesn't hurt to have some common interests between you. You should swing by the hospital sometimes when I am on the day shift. I know Darien Shields is a friend of yours, but he has a lot of equally good looking classmates doing their student rotations at the hospital. I could introduce you to some of them."

"Mom!" Amy squeaked indignantly. "I can meet people on my own. I don't need you to set me up! That's embarrassing!"

"It was just a suggestion," Dr. Mizuno laughed as she got up to leave the room. "Have a good night!"

"Incredible!" Amy muttered under her breath as the door closed behind her mother. "I can't believe my own mom is offering to set me up with a med student! I agree that couples should have something in common, but I would never date someone that's going to become a doctor. Never again!"

Just as Sailor Mercury had always been considered the brains and chief medic of the Sailor Scouts, Zoicite had been the lead strategist and physician for the generals. It had been their mutual love of knowledge and medicine that had drawn them together in the first place. They had seemed to be compatible in every way, and she had loved him with all of her heart, all the way up to the moment that she had stood before him with his sword buried to the hilt in her stomach.

She flinched as she thought of the way those cold green eyes of his had glared at her on that last day. She had been unable to detect even the slightest glimmer of the man she loved in the monster that had killed her. Her quiet doctor had been consumed by the darkness and only the ruthless general had been left behind.

But not all of her memories of him were bad. She could still remember the way he had smiled at her that day in the library of the moon castle when they met again after not seeing each other for years.

She was reaching up for a book on a tall shelf, stretched up onto her tiptoes. But even then her fingers barely brushed it. She was about to give up and go search for a step stool when a larger hand appeared and plucked the book effortlessly from the shelf.

"Was this the one you wanted?" a soft-spoken tenor voice asked her.

"Yes, thank you," she replied just as quietly as she looked over to the man beside her. A light gasp passed her lips. "General Zoicite!"

He bowed to her. "Princess Ami, I am pleased to see that you remember me after all of this time. It's been many years since we last saw each other when you accompanied the lunar royal family on a trip to Earth."

Her pulse fluttered at the sight of his smile. "I am very good at remembering names and faces, general."

His smile broadened. "Of course. The Mercurians are as well known for their photographic memories as they are for their thirst for knowledge. But please, you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me Zoicite."

She smiled at him in return. "Only if you promise to address me as Ami. I don't believe that friendly acquaintances should have to use titles when in casual settings."

"I agree," he replied as he glanced down at the book in his hands. "_Medicinal Herbs of the Outer Solar System_? That seems to be a bit more complex than just light reading."

She took the book as he held it out to her. "I am researching cures for ailments that can't be cured by magical means. As the chief medical officer for the sailor scouts, it's my job to be prepared for any afflictions that may strike."

He nodded. "I agree completely. I am the personal physician for Prince Endymion and his guard. My prince may be able to heal broken bones and such with his Golden Crystal, but it's still up to me when someone comes down with a virus or infection. Have you studied any of the herbs from Earth? We have a vast selection there."

Her blue eyes lit up excitedly. "I've only read about them, but I'm hoping one day to have another chance to visit the Earth so I can see them for myself."

"When you do I'll take you around personally," Zoicite told her. "I will show you all of the places that I've found where the best quality herbs grow. In fact, I never go anywhere without my medical kit if you would like to see what I brought with me."

"I would like that very much," she said shyly as she placed her hand in his.

Amy jerked back to the present as her phone began ringing. She scrabbled across the desktop and snatched it up, answering without checking the caller ID. "Hello."

"Hey Ames, are you okay? You sound out of breath," Mina's perky voice chirped over the line.

Amy forced her voice back to normal. "I'm fine. I was just finishing my homework. What's up?"

"Okay," Mina began gushing. "I know you never go anywhere without your Mercury computer, but I just wanted to double check and make sure that you bring it with you tonight. Artemis has been acting a little under the weather this afternoon and I want you to scan him and make sure he hasn't caught anything serious. He swears that nothing is wrong, but you know how he is. He always tries to play things down so that he doesn't worry me. It's really sweet that he's so considerate, but I would never forgive myself if he was really, really sick with something and I didn't know about it. So could you please, please, please take a look at him for me tonight?"

Amy laughed as the bubbly blonde finally ran out of air and stopped to suck in a breath. "Yes, Mina, I'll be more than happy to give him a check up. More than likely he has just picked up a cold, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Thank you so much!" Mina squealed. "I'll see you at the shrine later. Bye!"

"Bye," Amy replied and disconnected the call. She shook her head at her friend's antics. Mina was always good for a laugh.

It made her think back on her mother's earlier words. Sometimes opposites did attract, just look at her and her friends. They were a whole group of contradictions. She was the quiet, studious one that helped everyone with their schoolwork. Serena was the bleeding heart that accepted and loved everyone, no matter what. Raye was the serious one that tried to keep them all grounded. Lita was the protector of their band who looked out for them. And Mina was the upbeat spirit that always cheered them on when things looked dark.

At first glance people would never believe that five such different personalities could ever get along, much less be as close as they were. Of course they all had the same conviction of keeping the Earth safe from harm, but inside they were as different as night and day. But somehow they made it work.

So that made her think that maybe she could find someone that was completely different than her. Perhaps she could be happy with a musician or an actor. She just knew one thing; she had washed her hands of dating any doctors. It would be too painful.

"Enough with all of this pessimism!" she scolded herself. She grabbed the bag that she had packed earlier and headed out the door. She had better things to do than to sit around reliving the past.

* * *

"I'm so nervous," Serena whispered as she stared up at the long staircase that led to the shrine. "I just know they are going to skin me alive when I tell them our news."

Darien reached over and pulled her hand away from her mouth. Her thumb was oozing a little blood from where she had chewed the nail past the quick. "Would you calm down? Nobody's going to skin you. They may put up a bit of a fuss, but they would never hurt you. And I'll be right there with you, so you're not alone."

"But Darien," she wailed softly. "You know how they get when they're angry, and bringing up the subject of the generals is one surefire way to set them off in a hurry. I'll be burned, frozen, electrocuted, and whipped all at the same time!"

"You're overreacting," he told her calmly. "I know they can fly off the handle sometimes, but they're not completely unreasonable. If we just set them down and explain things rationally to them, they should be fine."

"You're so delusional!" Serena snapped back at him. "You're standing here telling me to be calm. Have you forgotten the times that they've practically scared the pants off of you? Let's see, there was the time that you laughed at me when I tried to make you a home cooked meal and the time that you cancelled a date on me on our anniversary. Oh, and this one is my favorite. Let's not forget the time that they thought that you were cheating on me with that girl from your class. You would have been nothing but a bloody mess if I hadn't sensed that something was wrong and gotten there in time to stop the girls from killing you!"

"Okay, okay!" Darien exclaimed in exasperation. "I get your point! So they can go wacko sometimes. But in my defense, the only reason why I laughed at you when you cooked for me was because you looked so damn cute covered in food. I cancelled that date because I was sick and didn't want you to catch it. And the only reason why they thought I was cheating on you was because Rini saw Francesca and I working together on a project and ran to them screaming that she was never going to be born. I was innocent of all charges! But the bottom line is that you promised the generals that you would help them get their lives back. Are you going to back out on that?"

Serena shuffled her feet. "No. But what difference could one night make? I say we go back to your apartment and watch a movie. There will be plenty of time to talk to the girls tomorrow when everybody is rested and alert. I think that's a better plan. What do you say?"

Darien shook his head. "Oh no, you're not pulling that one on me Serena Tsukino! Now we are going to march ourselves up there and be honest with them. They deserve that much."

She sighed dejectedly. "You're right. Okay, let's go." She squared her shoulders and bravely mounted the stairs."

"Thatta girl!" Darien encouraged her as he fell into step beside her. "I knew you could do this."

"I'd rather face Galaxia again," she muttered under her breath. "I'd even rather face my mother with a failing test grade. That would be easier than facing these dragons. I hope everyone has their funeral clothes ready, because I am so dead."

"Just take a deep breath. Everything will be fine," Darien insisted, though he sounded slightly unsure himself.

Serena picked up on his uneasiness and ground to a halt just as the shrine came into view. "We can still run for it, Darien. We can go back to your place and pretend that nothing ever happened."

He was tempted. Oh boy was he tempted. But his honor refused to let him back down. "We gave our word that we would try to help the guys. Can you, in all good faith, leave them to an eternal existence of nothingness?"

He watched as her face fell. He felt bad for laying a guilt trip on her and playing on her sympathetic heart, but he knew that this was going to get harder the longer they put it off. It was best to go ahead and get it over with.

Serena shot him a censuring look. "That was cold, Darien. You know I can't say no when you put it that way."

He had the good grace to flush guiltily. "Sorry. I just want to get this over so we can move on."

She grabbed his hand. "Okay, let's do this. They sooner we tell them, the sooner they can kick me out so we can go back to your place and snuggle together as we nurse our wounds."

They made their way around the public buildings of the shrine and headed to the back where Raye, her grandfather, and Chad had their living quarters.

"It's awfully quiet," Serena mused as they stepped up on the wooden porch. "I don't think I've ever heard it this quiet when all of them are together. Maybe they aren't here yet."

She slid the door open that led to the combination living room and kitchen and stuck her head in. "Raye! Are you here? Hellooo!"

Nothing stirred and no answering greeting came forth, so Serena closed the door and padded further down the porch, She checked Raye's bedroom, the sacred fire chamber, and even the bathroom, but the place seemed to be deserted.

"This is so weird," she muttered to Darien as she pulled out her cell phone. "Maybe they decided to go out and get something to eat. I'll just give Raye a call and check."

Her finger was hovering over the call button when there was a muted boom and the sky at the back of the shrine grounds flared briefly with red and green light.

Darien snickered as Serena stashed her phone away again. "I guess we know where they are now."

Serena looked more nervous than ever. "Oh great! They're transformed! That makes me feel even more nervous. It's hard enough to imagine telling them about the generals in their civilian forms, but as the scouts…" she shuddered. "This is a nightmare!"

They walked around the side of the building and followed a tiny path that led into the acres of trees that were part of the shrine's property. After a few minutes they came upon a small clearing where Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars were sparring. Amy and Mina were sitting nearby under a tree each holding a cat on her lap. Amy held Luna while Mina was cuddling Artemis. Serena and Darien went over to join them.

"Poor kitty caught a nasty cold," Mina was cooing to the white feline. "I'll fix you some nice warm milk in a little while and find you a soft pillow and blanket to curl up on."

"Is something wrong with Artemis?" Serena shrieked in concern. She knew that Mina and Artemis shared a close relationship, much closer than the one she had with Luna. Mina's parents were both busy diplomats, and Mina had been left on her own a lot since becoming a teenager. Artemis was more than an advisor to her. He was a substitute father.

"Would both of you airheaded blondes give it a rest," Artemis groaned. "It's not like I'm dying. It's just a simple cold. But I do have a headache, so for Selene's sake, try to keep your voices below the legal decibel level."

"Wow! Somebody got up on the wrong side of the cat bed today," Serena grumbled. "And I thought Luna could be cranky when she wasn't feeling good."

"Well excuse me, Miss Juvenile Delinquent!" Luna snapped from her perch on Amy's lap. "May I remind you that although cats are our primary form, Artemis and I are capable of taking human form when the need arises. Our feelings are much broader than that of the common alley cat!"

"Anyhow!" Amy jumped in to prevent the spat she felt brewing between her princess and her feline advisor. "I'm glad you could join us tonight. We weren't sure if you were going to make it."

"Yeah, we thought you might be tired after a long day of playing hooky," Mina said slyly as she sat up on her knees with her eyes sparkling mischievously. "So did you have fun?"

Serena sighed harshly. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Mina! You're such a hentai sometimes."

Mina just smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well you can't tell me that you two sat around playing Monopoly all day. Not unless," her voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper, "you were playing strip Monopoly. Now that sounds like it could be fun."

"Mina!" Serena gasped in shock, a blush flooding her face with red all the way from her neck to her hairline.

"Oh, for god's sake," Darien muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Two spots of red burned on his cheeks as he tried to fight down a blush of his own.

Mina giggled and waggled her eyebrows at the discomfited couple. "That's okay, you don't have to say anything. The goddess of love knows all."

"Fat lot you know!" Serena shot back as her temper got the better of her. "Not that it's any of your business, but Darien and I can spend quality time together without pawing constantly at one another. I think you've read too many smutty manga."

Mina sniffed disdainfully. "Says the girl that used to keep romance manga hidden in the top of her closet so that her mother wouldn't find them. You don't have a lot of room to talk."

Serena looked like a dying fish as her mouth opened and closed several times as she fought to find her voice. "We…well…that was all yours and Raye's fault! You two were the ones that gave me those mangas. I had never even looked at one until I met you guys."

"We were just trying to broaden your innocent little mind," Mina replied airily as she waved a careless hand. "You were a middle school student going out with a college guy. We had to do something. You should be thanking me for helping you shed some of your naivety."

"I'm just counting my lucky stars that you didn't scar me for life," Serena mumbled as she turned her attention to Amy. "So what's up with Lita and Raye? They seem to be particularly energetic tonight."

Amy shrugged. "I guess so. Raye seemed to have something heavy on her mind when I got here. And then Lita showed up and said that she like letting out some excess energy, so they decided to spar for a little while. They should be finishing up soon. They've been going at it for some time now."

"Good," Serena said as she sat down next to them. She reached up and grabbed Darien's hand to pull him down beside her. "Darien and I have something important to talk to you all about."

Amy arched a brow. "Sounds serious."

Serena nodded slowly. "It is serious. We need your help."

Mina's hand flew up and smacked herself on the forehead. "Oh my god! Are you…no way! Are you pregnant?"

Her exclamation came out as a strangled screech, but it was loud enough to carry over to Jupiter and Mars. There was a flash of red and green as they flew to the others. "What!" they both exclaimed together.

Luna was on her feet. Her hackles were raised all down her back and her tail stuck straight up and was bushed out to three times its normal size. "Serena Usagi Tsukino! How could you be so irresponsible?"

Serena jumped to her feet, waving her arms around madly. "Hold on! Mina, you're jumping to the wrong conclusions. I am most definitely not pregnant!"

Sighs of relief were heard as everyone settled down. Jupiter and Mars let go of their transformations and flopped down onto the ground.

"Thank goodness," Amy whispered. "You had us all worried for a minute."

Lita cracked her knuckles and glared at Darien. "Yeah, I thought I was going to have to drag Cape Boy off for a little heart to heart talk."

A whimper actually slid past Darien's lips as he scrambled back a few feet in his seat before jumping up to stand behind Serena. She turned to look at him curiously over her shoulder.

'_Are you sure you still want to do this?' _she asked him silently through their bond.

He nodded slightly. _'Yes. Just don't let Lita get me. It's a good thing the Negaverse never kidnapped her. We'd all be dead if they had.'_

"Hello! There are other people here you know. I hate it when you two carry on a mental conversation in front of us. It makes me feel like you're talking about me," Raye snapped peevishly.

"Sorry!" Serena said as she turned back to them. "Like I said before, I have something important to talk to you about. It's about our past, or more specifically, certain people from our past."

"Okay. I don't see where you're going with this, but go ahead," Mina replied uncertainly.

Serena took a deep breath. "It's about…the generals."

The reaction was instantaneous. Amy fell still and her eyes glazed over like ice. Lita slammed a fist into the ground, leaving a deep depression in the earth. Shimmering waves of heat rose from Raye's body and sparks glittered in her violet eyes. All signs of cheerfulness fled from Mina's face and she clenched her fists in her lap so tightly that you could hear the joints popping.

The blonde scout of love was the first to break the silence. "What about them?" she asked in a tight voice.

"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it!" Raye screeched as she jumped to her feet. "I've washed my hands of that no good, telekinetic, flame throwing pervert! I don't give a shit about listening to anything that concerns him!"

Serena rushed over and put her hands on her fiery friend's shoulders. "Please, Raye. Just listen to what we have to say. You have the right to know the whole story."

"The whole story!" Lita snorted. "What else is there to know? They screwed up and got their asses caught by Beryl and then let her monkey around in their heads until they turned into her puppets and decided to kill us! End of story!"

"There's more to it than that. I'm begging you all to please just hear us out," Serena beseeched them.

"I think we should listen to them," Amy spoke up quietly. "Serena knows very well that this is a touchy subject for us, and I don't think she would bring it up without good reason."

Serena turned grateful eyes to her. "Thank you, Amy. I promise, there is a very good reason why I'm doing this. The last thing I would ever want to do is cause any of you unnecessary pain."

"Fine!" Raye growled as she sat back down. "But after this I want the subject closed. I refuse to spend my whole life dwelling about things that happened in the past."

Lita shrugged and lounged back on her elbows. She waved a hand for Serena to continue.

"Mina?" Serena asked hesitantly. "What about you?"

The blonde girl clenched her eyes as if she was in pain, but nodded slowly. "Go ahead. I'll hear you out."

Serena launched into the story, telling how the generals had indeed been captured by Beryl during the Silver Millennium and how the evil witch had split their souls in two after they had stubbornly refused to serve her, locking away the pure half of their essences while manipulating the dark halves to her cause. She told them of how the spell controlling them had been broken when they had committed the heinous crimes of killing the women that they loved and how they had then taken their own lives.

"I never knew that part," Mina whispered as she wiped tears from her cheeks. "I had always assumed that they had been sealed away with Beryl and Metallia when Queen Serenity used the crystal."

Serena shook her head. "No, their souls were reunited in the end. But after their deaths Beryl's spell still held their souls and they were locked away by her magic again. When her seal was broken here in this time, she split them again and revived the dark generals that we fought against."

"It still doesn't change the fact that they were stupid enough to get put into that situation to begin with," Lita growled. "They were supposed to be the best warriors on Earth, but they walked right into her hands like a bunch of rookies. How pathetic!"

"Not necessarily, Lita," Amy contradicted. "Beryl was definitely a crafty opponent. If my memory serves me right, she planned it out and captured each of the generals separately when they wouldn't have had a hope of fighting against her and her army."

Raye snarled angrily. "So they didn't betray us out of their own free will. Big deal! We had already figured that much out. It doesn't matter anyway because they are dead and gone. They were all defeated and then Serena blasted Beryl and Metallia to bits with the Silver Crystal. What difference does it make now?"

"They may be dead, but not completely gone," Serena commented softly.

"What!" several voices bombarded her at once.

She gestured to Darien. "I think I'll let you tell them this part. You'll probably make more sense than me."

He nodded and pulled a small wooden box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal the four gleaming stones inside. "These are the stones that Beryl locked away my general's souls in. She gave them to me when I was under her control two years ago. I held on to them for some reason after the battle and didn't think much of it. Then after I got the Golden Crystal back from Helios I received a shock. Whenever I touch these stones, the general's spirits appear to me. Their souls were not set free when Beryl was defeated, instead they are still trapped inside."

"You have got to be shitting me!" Lita shrieked.

Darien shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm not. Beryl may be gone, but her magic stands firm."

"So what do you want us to do about it?" Raye snapped. "Do you want us to smash the stones for you? I bet that would get rid of them."

"No, Raye!" Mina squealed. "You can't do that! If those stones are broken with their souls still inside they won't be able to pass on to the next life. The spell that's binding them must be lifted first, or they will be lost forever."

Amy slipped her Mercury computer out of her pocket. "So I guess you're wanting us to find a way to break the spell."

"Not exactly," Serena hedged. "I've already spoken to Trista, and she assured me that the power of the Silver Crystal is more than enough to lift the curse."

"So what do you need us for?" Lita asked. "Just do what you have to do and we'll consider this chapter of our lives closed for good."

"Well, you see…" Serena chewed nervously on her bottom lip. "Darien and I were kind of hoping to…"

"Spit it out, Meatball Head!" Raye shrilled. "You were hoping to what?"

Serena's head snapped up, her eyes burning with conviction. "We were hoping to bring the generals back to life and give them a second chance! But we can't do it with out your help!"

Four thumps were heard as the scout's jaws all dropped to the ground at their princess's proclamation.

* * *

_**Crystal Tokyo – The 30**__**th**__** Century**_

King Endymion gently laid his three-week-old daughter down in her crib and tiptoed quietly from the room. He pulled the door closed behind him, leaving it open just a crack. He nodded to Luna and Artemis, who were curled up on the sofa in the sitting room.

"She's asleep," he whispered to them. "She sucked down the whole bottle and she has a clean diaper, so she should be out for a while."

Luna chortled quietly. "Like mother, like daughter. Fill up their bellies and they're out like a light. It's not all that surprising really, we've already seen the way Rini turns out."

Endymion chuckled. "True enough. Where's Serena? I thought she was out here with you."

"She left a few minutes ago," Artemis mumbled around a yawn. "She said something about needing some company besides the baby for a change."

The king grinned. "That sounds like her. Can you two keep an ear out for Rini for a little bit?"

"Of course," Luna told him. "We'll call you if she wakes."

Endymion slipped from the room and into one of the massive hallways of the Crystal Palace. He nodded a greeting to the few servants that were going about their duties as he headed for the wing of the palace that housed the living areas for the scouts and generals. He was pretty sure that he would find his wife there visiting with her friends.

He came across Kunzite coming up the stairs as he reached the landing and called out a greeting to his head general.

The platinum haired man turned to him with a smile. "Hey Dare. Taking some time away from the little princess? How is she doing?"

A goofy grin spread across Endymion's face. "She's absolutely perfect, at least when she's not screaming her head off to be fed or changed. Have you seen Serena around anywhere?"

Kunzite shook his head. "No I haven't. I just ran downstairs to get some ginger ale for Mina, but I haven't seen her."

The king gave him a sympathetic look. "Mina still having a hard time with morning sickness?"

"Morning, noon, night, it doesn't discriminate," Kunzite muttered. "I don't think you'll find Serena on our end though. I just saw Amy and Zoi down in the library, Neph and Lita are on patrol, and the last time I saw Jed he was running for his life. He must have pissed Raye off about something."

Endymion shrugged. "When does he not? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to find her the easy way. You better get that ginger ale to Mina quickly. Pregnant women are known for their horrible mood swings."

"You're telling me," Kunzite grumbled as he sped away. "Good luck!"

"You too!" Endymion replied as he headed down the stairs. He had reached out through his bond with his wife and sensed her presence downstairs. He was so wrapped up in focusing on her that he almost ran right into Andrew as he stepped through a door.

"Whoops! Sorry, Drew," he apologized. "What are you still doing here? I figured you would have gone home by now."

"I hate being in that house by myself, so I thought I'd get some work done," Andrew muttered in a depressed tone. "But I'm stopping for the night. I think I'll just crash here if you don't mind."

Endymion shook his head. "I don't mind at all. You know there's always a room ready for you. When does the missus get back from her trip?"

"Tomorrow," Andrew groaned. "I can't wait. This last week has been a nightmare with her gone."

"You could have gone with her. I've heard that Paris is nice this time of year," Endymion told him.

"Nah," Andrew said as he stretched. "I would have hated to see how much work would be piled up on my desk if I had taken a whole week off. Besides, she's been working the whole time she's been there. What's the use of being in the most romantic city in the world if your wife is too busy to spend time with you?"

Endymion chuckled. "I see your point. Now go get some sleep. You look like the walking dead. I sure don't want an angry Mrs. Furuhata accusing me of not keeping an eye on her husband while she's been gone."

Andrew smothered a yawn with his hand. "Yeah, yeah. I'm so bushed I'm sure I'll be out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I'll be bright eyed and bushy tailed when she steps off the plane."

The two men said goodnight and parted. Endymion kept following the invisible pull that would lead him to his wife, passing his office. He smirked as he passed hers as well and didn't feel her inside it. Serena may be Neo Queen Serenity now, but she only spent time working in her office when she absolutely had to.

He grew confused however when the bond pulled him past the kitchen. He had figured that he would find her there, happily plowing her way through a tub of ice cream. Despite the way Serena could conduct herself with the utmost decorum when handling court matters, the kitchen staff was well aware of their queen's large appetite and her ice cream addiction and kept the freezer well stocked.

But it seemed that his queen was on another mission tonight. He continued on to the end of the hall and down a hidden set of stairs to what could be considered the basement of the palace. He drew to a halt in front of a set of double doors with a grin. It seemed that Serena had decided to visit Sailor Pluto. He pushed the doors open and walked in.

A thick mist surrounded him immediately, making it almost impossible to see, but he wasn't worried. He'd been here so many times that he could find his way to the time gate with his eyes closed. He walked ahead, veering slightly off to the left. In just a few short minutes the mist began thinning and the gates of time came into view. Sailor Pluto was conspicuously absent from her post, probably off taking care of some time glitch that required her attention, but there was someone present.

Neo Queen Serenity, known to her friends and family as simply Serena, stood over the river of time, looking down into it with an impish smile on her face. She was dressed down, as she preferred to be during her off time, wearing a simple pair of jeans and an oversized t-shirt that she had stolen from her husband. Her extremely long, golden hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail and her face was scrubbed free of makeup.

Thanks to the Silver Crystal, she didn't look like a woman that had given birth only three weeks before. She was as slim as she had been in high school. But the sleepless nights from taking care of her new daughter had left dark smudges under her sky blue eyes.

"What are you doing, Serena?" Darien asked as he stepped forward. "Does Trista know that you're sneaking around when she's not here?"

"Darien!" she squeaked and whirled around, surprised by his sudden appearance. "Of course Trista knows I'm here. She gave me permission to look into the river of time as long as I only look at our past and not at the future or any alternate timelines. It's soothing to me, kind of like an old movie that you've seen a hundred times but feel compelled to watch every time it comes on."

"Oh really?" he replied as he walked over to her and looked to see what had entranced his wife so much that she hadn't felt his approach until he had spoken. He chuckled as he saw a crumpled test paper bounce off of his younger self's head and the following battle of words with his wife's past self that ended with her snatching the paper from his hand before sticking her tongue out at him and stomping away.

"I can't believe you're watching this," he said humorously.

She shoved lightly against his shoulder. "Hush! This is one of my most treasured memories. Who would have ever thought that a failed math test could be the start of a beautiful relationship?"

Endymion opened his mouth to point out the fact that their relationship had hardly started off on a good note, but then wisely closed it without saying anything. Bringing up the subject of the many verbal spars and food fights that had happened between them when they had first met would only rile her up, and he didn't feel like debating over who was wrong and who was right over every single incident.

They were silent for a few minutes as several other scenes from their past swam by, both of them laughing softly when they saw a pink haired little girl fall from the sky to land on their heads as they shared a kiss by a lake.

"I'm assuming that she's asleep," Serenity said quietly.

Endymion nodded. "Yes, and that's where you need to be too, missy. You look so tired. I told you that you didn't have to jump back into work so quickly, now you're paying the price for it. You could have taken some more time off."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I didn't want to leave everything for you to handle. Rini will only be a little baby once, and want you to be able to have time with her while she's still tiny. You can't do that if you're stuck in your office working all of the time."

He put an arm around her and pulled her to his side before kissing the top of her head. "I know, and I'm thankful for it. That's all the more reason to get you to bed so you can get some sleep. I'm sure Small Lady will be waking us up in a few hours wanting her middle of the night feeding. So we should get what rest we can while she's sleeping."

Serenity leaned against him and sighed. "You're right." Then she squealed as a new vision came into view in the rippling waves of time. "We'll go as soon as I watch this. It's one of my favorites!"

Endymion reluctantly agreed and watched as the scene taking place in the living room of his old apartment played out.

* * *

_**Tokyo – Present Day**_

"I told you this was going to happen!" Serena fumed as she paced back and forth in Darien's living room. Her tiny feet made muffled thuds on the plush carpet as she stomped angrily with every step. One pair of sharp blue eyes and four pairs of saddened translucent ones watched her as she raged.

"'_They'll be okay,' _you said. _'They're not completely unreasonable,' _you told me. I tried to tell you that this was going to turn into a fiasco, and it did. Why did I ever listen to you? I'll be lucky if any of them ever speak to me again after this. If we had just turned around and left when I said so none of this would have happened. Now they hate meee!" her voice had risen in pitch until it had become an ear-piercing wail as she burst into tears.

"Man, that girl has got a set of lungs on her," Jadeite muttered to Nephrite, who nodded his agreement. All four generals stared in amazement at the reincarnated moon princess, wondering how it was humanly possible for such a sound to come from one woman.

"Serena," Darien said in a soothing tone as he took her gently by the arm to stop her frantic pacing. "They don't hate you. They could never hate you. They're just upset right now."

She shook her head violently, sending teardrops and streamers of golden hair flying in all directions. Her eyes were tortured and pain filled as they met his. "They do hate me! They do! Didn't you see the way they were looking at me? I felt lower than a snake. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had hauled me down to the street and thrown me under a bus!"

Darien scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to his favorite armchair. He sat down with her in his lap. He used the fingers of one hand, since his other hand was occupied with holding the stones, to take down her hair buns that had become loose and bedraggled looking. He ran his fingers through the silken length, trying his best to calm her.

"Everything's going to work out," he whispered softly in her ear. "They didn't turn us down flat. They just said that they needed some time to think things through. Let's just give them some space and see what happens."

She sniffled and raised her head from his shoulder. Her eyes were wet and her nose as red as a cherry. "And what happens if they don't accept this? The future could be changed drastically. Crystal Tokyo may never exist if we're not all together. How can I be Neo Queen Serenity without my scouts? And you heard what Trista said, the generals are supposed to be there too. How can they be if we don't set them free?"

Seeing that the calm, caring approach wasn't working on her, Darien decided it was time to be firm. He took her chin in hand and forced her gaze to meet his. "You are overreacting," he said in a steady voice. "There is no reason to start panicking yet. We've dropped a huge bombshell on the girls tonight and it's going to take time for them to come to terms with what we told them, so let's give them a day or so to get things straight in their heads. Now you need to calm down because when they make their decision and come to you they're going to need their princess, not a sobbing, hysterical mess."

She jerked in his arms and her eyes flared wide at his words, but Darien could see the spark of resolve that began to glimmer in her blue orbs. Her jaw tightened with determination. "You're right, Darien. I need to pull myself together." She turned a trembling smile on the generals. "I'm sorry you guys had to see that."

Kunzite jumped to attention. "No, Serenity…I mean, Serena. It's perfectly understandable for you to be upset. I'm sorry that you've found yourself in such a position because of us."

Serena shook her head. "It's not any of your faults. I should have been better prepared for their responses. I just hate leaving you guys hanging like this. I know deep down that the girls believe that you deserve your second chances that were denied to you because of Beryl's spell. I just have to keep the faith that they will do the right thing. They are strong individuals, but even the strongest of people can have a hard time dealing with the demons of their past."

"Very well said," Zoicite said softly. "We've waited this long. We can wait a little longer for the scouts to come to terms with this change of events."

Darien, thrilled that Serena had finally calmed down and was acting a little bit like her normal self again, tickled her lightly on the ribs. "Hey, how about I order in some Chinese food? I'm surprised that you haven't hollered for dinner before now."

The mention of food was enough to snap her the rest of the way out of her funk. She squealed, causing the generals to all clap their ghostly hands over their phantom ears, as she jumped up and dragged Darien from the chair. "Well call them up! I'm starving! I want sweet and sour chicken and pepper steak. Ooo, and shrimp fried rice! That's my favorite! And eggrolls, and eggdrop soup…" her voice faded as she and Darien walked into the kitchen.

"Is she really going to eat all of that herself?" Nephrite muttered in wide-eyed amazement. "It's not possible for one person to eat that much."

Jadeite fell over, clutching his stomach as he laughed. "That's Serenity for you. She always did like to overdo things. But I think I like Serena even more. She doesn't have to act all stiff and stuffy like she had to in the Silver Millennium. This girl is a hoot!"

Zoicite rolled his eyes. "I'm sure she means for her and the prince to share all that food. There's no way she could eat it all herself. Lunarians were known for requiring a large amount of food to keep their energy up, but she's a Terran now. Even the fast acting metabolism of a sailor scout wouldn't be able to allow her to consume that much."

His theory was proven wrong a minute later when Serena's voice carried to them. "Okay, that's all I want. What are you going to get, Darien?"

All four generals fell over, swirly eyed with shock. Serena wasn't a reincarnated princess or a sailor scout. She was a human garbage disposal.

* * *

The four girls sat in silence around the table in Raye's bedroom, staring down into their untouched cups of tea. Each one was lost deeply in their own thoughts. It may have seemed like a peaceful scene to anyone looking in, but the tension was so thick in the air that it would have taken a sword to cut through it.

The quiet was broken as Raye banged a fist on the table. "I still don't believe this! How could Serena ask this of us?"

Amy's head snapped up. "I understand how you feel, Raye, but you have to look at this from Serena's point of view. Her loving heart would never allow her to turn her back on somebody that needs help."

"True enough," Lita sighed. "But this favor is a doozey. To bring those guys back to life…I hate to think how screwed up that would be."

"Damn straight!" Raye agreed. "They had their chances and they messed up! Why should we have to bail them out of trouble after all that they've done to us?"

"But it wasn't their fault!" Amy exclaimed softly. "They were brainwashed and didn't realize what they were doing."

"Amy, are you going soft on us?" Lita growled. "You're not considering going through with this are you?"

Amy tossed her head defiantly, and when she spoke her voice was louder and firmer than normal. "It has nothing to do with being soft. I'm not saying that I am agreeing to Serena and Darien's plan, I'm just simply thinking through all of the options and the consequences."

"Oh, Amy! You're just as much of a bleeding heart as Serena," Raye groaned. "The point I'm trying to make is that the dark parts of the general's souls that Beryl brainwashed are still a part of them. That could mean trouble for us if they are alive."

"That's not true," Mina spoke up finally. "Everyone has a light and dark side to them, it's just a matter of which side is stronger that makes a person who they are. The general's always possessed a darker side them, just as we all do. Beryl just managed to pull out the darkness within them. I don't think that they should be made to suffer for the sins forced on them by another person."

Raye's eyes glittered dangerously. "You sound as if you have already made your decision. Admit it, you're going to bring him back."

Mina shook her head. "I haven't made a decision yet. There's a part of me that misses Kunzite like crazy, but there's another part of me that wants him to stay gone. But even if we bring them back to life, there's no rule that says that we have to be in each other's lives. If the spell is broken they will be free to do whatever they want to do. They can move to the other side of the world and pursue their own lives. They may actually prefer it that way. You're acting like we are resurrecting our dead boyfriends, but their princesses died a long time ago. We are simply reincarnations. They may not want to have anything more to do with us than we do with them."

"Or maybe you just want your boy toy back," Lita said slyly. "You always were gaga over Kunzite."

"That's not it all!" Mina shrieked, jumping up from her seat. "I'm just trying to figure out what is the right thing to do." She sucked in a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry. I need to get some air." She turned and walked from the room.

"Ten bucks says that she folds within a day," Raye muttered.

Lita shook her head. "I won't take that bet. I agree with you. I'll never understand what she saw in him. He was always so cold and distant. Talk about polar opposites."

Amy's troubled eyes stared at the door that Mina had disappeared through. She understood exactly where she was coming from. She stood by her vow that she had made to herself earlier about finding someone different than Zoicite to spend her life with. But she didn't know if she could, in good conscience, stand by and deny Zoicite his chance to live. It was all so confusing.

Outside, Mina stalked down one of the paths that weaved through the sakura trees. She felt mad, sad, and depressed all at the same time. She had hoped that talking out her feelings with the other girls would help her make some sense of things, but now she was more confused than ever. She wished that they hadn't asked Serena to leave so abruptly earlier, she could really use a nice long talk with her friend right now.

She glanced at her watch. It was still fairly early, early enough to drop in and have a chat with Serena. If anyone could help her put things into perspective, it was her princess.

She fished around in her pocket and pulled out her henshin rod. She was pretty sure that Serena would be at Darien's apartment and not at home, and she really didn't feel like walking all the way over there. Sailor Venus would be able to make the trip in a fraction of the time.

"Venus Crystal Power!" she called out in a soft voice. She wasn't far from Raye's room and she didn't want to alert the others to what she was doing. She needed some one on one time with Serena right now to talk things through.

* * *

Kunzite shook his head in amusement as he passed through the solid glass of the sliding door to stand on the balcony, leaving behind the sounds of lively chatter. Serena had amazed them all by polishing off every bit of the food that she had ordered plus a giant bowl of ice cream. Now she was introducing Jadeite to cartoons, and the two of them had been rolling on the floor as they laughed at the characters on the TV screen while the rest of them shook their heads.

But he felt like he needed a break from their antics, and he figured it was safe enough to stand outside since they had discovered earlier that no one other than Serena and Darien could see them.

Darien had been running through the park after Serena when she had fled from the shrine in tears. When he had lunged and grabbed her, he had accidentally dropped the box with the stones in it. He had picked them up without thinking and had panicked for a moment when the four spirits had suddenly appeared in the middle of the fairly crowed park. But people had walked right on by, completely oblivious to them. So he could stand out on the balcony without worrying about the neighbors claiming that they were seeing ghosts.

He stared out over the city. He wondered if Minako…no, not Minako…Serena had told him that her name was Mina now, he wondered if she was still with the other scouts at the shrine or if she was somewhere out there amid the twinkling lights.

If this had been during the Silver Millennium, he simply would have been able to reach out with his bond to locate her. But since he didn't physically exist there was no link between them.

Part of him was worried about that. While the Mina of this time had Minako's soul within her, she wasn't the same Venusian princess that had held his heart a thousand years ago. He remembered his Minako explaining soul mates to him one time. She had said that no matter what, soul mates would always share a connection, even through death and reincarnation.

He prayed that she was right. As much as he wanted to live again, he knew that it would be only a half-life if he couldn't share it with her.

"How different will she be now?" he whispered to himself. He figured that she would be unchanged on the outside. Darien and Serena were mirror images of Endymion and Serenity. So chances were that Mina would embody Minako's looks, right down to her china blue eyes and sunshine hair.

But he had seen the differences in the prince and princess's personalities. While they were basically the same people as before, they were much less reserved and more laid back than their past selves had been. Not having to deal with the weight of royal duties and being able to live as regular people had allowed their true natures to flourish.

He grinned at the thought. Minako had always had a bubbly, exuberant side to her, but she had taken her role as Sailor Venus very seriously. As the leader of the sailor scouts, she had keep her natural, cheerful personality suppressed inside, only letting it show on rare occasions. He could still remember the first time she had dropped her serious façade in front of him and giggled over something silly that he had said. Her smile could have rivaled the sunrise.

So he could easily picture her as she would be in this life. She would still carry the seriousness of her duty when the occasion called for it, but he could also imagine her tripping through life full of smiles and laughter. And she deserved it.

A soft thump had him looking quickly to his left. Deeply ingrained training had him immediately alert for any possible threat that may be around. He was surprised to find that he was no longer alone on the balcony, but he was even more shocked when he realized who it was.

"Minako…" he whispered as he took in the sight of the young woman before him wearing the orange-skirted fuku that he remembered so well. She was exactly the same as he pictured in his memories. She even still wore her golden hair partially pulled back and held by a red bow.

Her already large blue eyes grew impossibly wider as she located the person that had just spoken the name that she hadn't gone by in a thousand years. "Kunzite!" she gasped. Then her eyes rolled back in her head as she fell forward in a faint.

Kunzite dashed forward to catch her, forgetting that he wasn't solid until she passed right through his body to land with a thud on the balcony floor. He cursed under his breath and then turned swiftly to stick his head through the glass door.

"Hey! I need an actual human out here," he called out in a slightly frantic tone. "I have a little situation that I can't deal with."

* * *

Amy looked up from the book that she was pretending to read to glance at the clock on the wall for what felt like the hundredth time. She sighed deeply. How could only a minute have passed since the last time she looked? It felt like it had been hours since Mina had walked out, but in reality it had only been ten minutes.

Soon after their blonde friend had made her proclamation and left, Raye had retreated to the fire room, claiming that she needed to meditate for a while. Lita had only lasted for about a minute after that before she jumped up and headed to the kitchen to find something to occupy her mind.

Amy had stayed put, trying her best to focus her attention on the novel that she had been reading, but her brain was refusing to process the words and the letters kept running together in a jumbled mess.

"Amazing," she muttered. "One mention of Zoicite's name and my mind turns to mush. That's just great!"

She slammed the book closed and got up from her seat. She had thought that Mina would be back by now. She had been hoping to catch her so that they could talk without the other girls butting in.

"Well if she won't come to me, I'll just go to her," she whispered and slid the door open. She tiptoed quietly past the fire room and the living quarters so that Raye and Lita wouldn't hear her.

Once she was out of earshot she hurried on, leaping down to the grass as she reached the end of the porch. Paths spread out in many different directions and Mina could have taken any of them, but luckily she didn't have to play the hunting game. Her Mercury computer was programmed to recognize each scout's energy and pinpoint its location.

She pulled out the tiny handheld computer and pressed a few keys. In seconds it had honed in on Mina's energy signature, but it wasn't where she had expected it to be.

"That little sneak!" she hissed as she saw how the orange blip on her screen was overlapping a silver one. "She snuck off to see Serena without me. I can't believe her!"

She had some questions that she wanted answered too. In fact, she was going to suggest to Mina that they go see Serena together. It was pretty obvious after their heated debate with the other girls earlier that they were thinking along the same wavelength. If only she had waited a few minutes more.

"Well I'm not going to be left out of the loop," she grumbled and pulled out her henshin rod. "Mercury Crystal Power!"

Her blood flowed like ice water through her veins as a blue glow surrounded her. The moment her transformation was complete she took to the trees and then the rooftops, sprinting her way quickly across the blocks to Darien's apartment.

When she arrived she considered dropping into an alley and detransforming before taking the elevator up in the normal way, but her nerves were stretched so thin that she didn't think that she would be able to stand the wait. So she chose option two and jumped onto the twentieth story balcony.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to compose herself as she planned out what she was going to say to Serena in her head. But when she stepped up to the door and peered through the glass, every thought ran straight out of her head.

She flung the door open and screeched uncharacteristically, "What the hell is going on in here?"

Serena jumped where she was leaning over the sofa and whirled, pressing a hand over her heart. "Amy? You just about gave me a heart attack!"

Sailor Mercury ignored her as she stomped over and pushed her way in between Serena and Darien where they had been hovering over an unconscious form. "What's wrong with Mina?"

Serena's fingers twisted the damp rag that she held. "Uh…well…you see…um…"

"What the princess is trying to say is that Lady Venus has received a bit of a shock tonight. There is no need for concern, she merely fainted," a soft-spoken tenor answered instead.

Mercury's breath caught as her head snapped up. Her eyes immediately locked with a familiar pair of green ones. They were translucent, washed out, and held none of the vibrancy that she remembered, but they were unmistakably the same eyes.

She fell back from her kneeling position to land hard on her butt. "Zoi…Zoicite?"

The spirit form of her past lover smiled sadly at her. "Hello, Ami. It's been a long time."

**A/N **And another chapter bites the dust. So the cat is out of the bag now. The scouts have been told the situation and now they have some important decisions to make. Now since this is loosely a prequel to Lunar Princess (Hence the reference to Mina's pregnancy and the mysterious Mrs. Furuhata with the bad temper. Those of you that are currently reading GT know exactly who I was talking about.) I'm sure you all know that the generals will be brought back to life. But how many meltdowns will occur on the way? And what will happen once they are back? And don't forget our main couple, we still have the issues of Darien going away to school and Serena trying to seduce her prince. There is also another issue that's going to spring up between our lovely duo, but I don't want to give too much away. Please review and tell me what you think so I know how I'm doing. I'll catch all of you later. Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	4. House of Cards

**A/N **Yay! It's a new year and I'm super psyched about what 2011 is going to bring! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you all the best in the year to come. I have lots of things planned as far as my stories go, and with a little luck (ok, a whole lot of luck and a lot of caffeine) I will be able to accomplish half of what I would like to. Thank you to everyone that helped make my holiday story _Star Bright Angels _such a success. I had a blast writing it, but now it's time to get back to business. Sometime during this year will bring the end to both this story and GT, which will sadly probably be the end of my Lunar Princess saga…unless another bug bites me. Who knows? I will also be continuing with my season retellings that I began with _What If._ Once _Rekindled_ is finished I will be moving on to my season 3 rewrite _Stolen Hearts_ and then on to season 4, tentatively named _Beautiful Dreamer_. But we'll see how far I get with that this year. I also have several other stories that I have started on, and their summaries are on my profile. I hope to get something going on them as well.

Well enough babbling from me. It's time to give out my hugs. I hope my wonderful reviewers are still out there. I neglected this poor story horribly over the holidays. Here's hoping that you haven't forgotten this little story. BIG HUGS TO:

**snoopykid**

**KageNoNeko**

**Seredhiel05**

**jade2nightwing**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**mandii-xo**

**Jaguarsolaris**

**CCFan4Life**

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**applenica**

**YingYing**

**sabina21**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**roswellachick**

**chimichurri**

**GoldenDragon326**

**xo Usako ox**

**Swinkinator**

**anime-lover10**

**S dot Serenity **

**rainbabie**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**Forest Sentry Koneji**

**sailorashes**

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your incredibly uplifting words. Now here's hoping this chapter lives up to your expectations. I'll see you at the end!

_**ENJOY!**_

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 4

House of Cards

Sailor Mercury jumped like a startled cat when a hand landed on her shoulder. She jerked her head up and was met with a pair of warm, concerned blue eyes.

"Amy, are you okay?" Serena asked quietly. "I know this is a little bit of a shock."

"Well at least she didn't pass out like Venus, right Zoi?" Mercury heard Jadeite say to Zoicite. The sound of his teasing tone jerked her mind back to reality.

"I'm fine," she said shortly as she got up from the undignified heap she had landed in and returned to the side of her unconscious friend. Suddenly she was all business again. "So Mina just simply passed out from shock? She didn't hit her head on anything when she fell did she?"

She directed her questions to Darien, but before he could answer Zoicite responded. "I don't believe that Lady Venus suffered from any head trauma as a result of her fall. A visual examination shows no sign of contusions and what I could tell both of her pupils are equal and responsive. It appears that her condition is purely psychological."

Mercury gritted her teeth hard and glared at the ghostly general. "I wasn't asking you! And I would appreciate it very much if you would refrain from rendering any diagnosis on my fellow scouts, _General Zoicite_! If I suddenly feel an unexpected and overwhelming urge to become privy to your opinions, then I will ask you for them. Until then mind your own business!"

"Ooo, the kitten has claws! Hiss!" Jadeite chuckled as he made a sound like an angry cat.

Mercury ignored him and turned her attention back to Darien. "So she only fainted, right? Nobody," she slid a look toward Kunzite, "did anything to her did they?"

Kunzite straightened up from where he had been bent over the end of the sofa by Mina's head. "Just what are you insinuating, Sailor Mercury?"

She shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the large general's irritation. "I'm just trying to get the facts. My friends have a nasty habit of winding up injured or dead in the presence of you and your men."

Kunzite shot her a scathing look. "I would never do anything to hurt Minako! Nor would I allow anyone else to harm her in my presence."

"You could have fooled me!" she muttered under her breath as she slipped her Mercury computer out to scan Mina.

"Amy, he's telling the truth," Serena implored her. "None of the generals have any power while in this form. Kunzite can't even physically touch her. He had to call for Darien to come and carry her in from the balcony."

"That's right!" the hot-tempered Jadeite jumped to his leader's defense. "Venus showed up on the balcony and took one look at lover boy here before doing a face plant on the floor. So get the story straight before you start passing judgment on people."

"Boy, you don't know how much I wish I could knock you upside the head right now!" Nephrite growled. "As it is I suggest you keep your damn mouth shut. You're not helping the situation by flying off the handle."

"Everybody pipe down!" Darien snapped. "Let's just chill out a minute and let Amy do her thing, okay."

Mercury gave him a grateful look as she pulled up the health scanner on her computer and began scanning Mina. Less than a minute later she flipped it closed and returned it to her pocket. "She's fine. As a matter of fact she should be waking up very soon. I wouldn't be surprised if she could hear us right now."

"There's one way to find out," Serena said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She bent over the head of the couch and warned everybody, "I'd stand back if I were you. This could get crazy."

Then in a loud voice she announced, "Omigosh! I saw that the shoe store in the mall is having a fifty percent off sale!"

Mina's eyes flew open and she bolted upright on the couch. "Half price shoes!" she shrieked before putting a hand to her forehead and collapsing back against the cushions.

Serena cackled gleefully. "She's awake!"

Mina cracked one blue eye open to glare at her friend. "That was cold, Serena. You know I take my shopping seriously. How would you like it if I told you that the candy store was having a mega-sale when they weren't?"

"Sorry, Mina," Serena apologized contritely. "But I had to wake you up somehow. You had me worried since you were lying there all pale and still."

"How are you feeling?" Mercury jumped in.

"Oh, hey Ames," Mina mumbled around a yawn. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. "Honestly, I feel like someone has taken a baseball bat to me. What happened? The last thing I remember was…"

Her voice trailed off. And then a second later her eyes popped wide open again as she sat up quickly and looked around wildly, taking in all of the room's occupants. When her gaze landed on Kunzite, she let out a screech and lunged from the sofa to hide behind Serena.

"Holy crap! I thought it was just some wacky dream, but it's real!" she exclaimed. Then she began smoothing her hair and muttering, "Where's a hairbrush when you need it? I bet I look like a train wreck."

Kunzite stepped forward uncertainly. "Minako…Mina…you could never look anything other than heartbreakingly beautiful."

"Great Selene! Not only does he talk, but he pays compliments as well!" she shrieked as she peeked over Serena's shoulder, making her almost identical blonde friend wince in pain at the glass shattering tone of her voice barely an inch from her ear. "No…no…this has got to be a dream. There is no way that it is real. I must have eaten too many of Lita's cookies before falling asleep and now it's screwing with my head."

Serena laughed and turned to take her friend's face between her palms. "Mina, listen to me. This isn't a dream. You're not asleep. This is real. Remember the story I told you earlier? They're here for our help."

Mina sucked in a deep breath and shuffled around Serena, taking a few hesitant steps toward Kunzite. Her eyes darted about, searching his translucent, yet familiar features for signs that he was indeed Sailor Venus's past lover and not the evil, brainwashed minion that Queen Beryl had sent to murder her and her friends both in the past and in this lifetime.

The signs were subtle, but they were there. She could see them clearly. After all, she had known Kunzite well; probably better than even his prince or fellow generals had. He had never been one to show his emotions, but she knew what to look for. She took in the slight glimmer that was buried deep in his calm gray eyes and the way that one side of his mouth hitched up just slightly higher than the other side in an almost nonexistent hint of a smile and felt a thrill race down her spine. This was the true Kunzite, the way that she remembered him in her foggy distant memories.

"It's really you," she barely whispered.

"Yes," he replied softly. "I'm really here."

Mina slapped a trembling hand over her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes and a sob broke from her chest. She stumbled forward two more steps before she found her way blocked by a gloved arm. She blinked hard and looked at the girl beside her. "Amy?"

Sailor Mercury shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mina. I can't just stand by and watch you throw yourself headlong into this situation without thinking it through. I am convinced that they are telling the truth about what happened between them and Beryl, but that does not mean that we shouldn't continue with caution. We need to weigh the pros and cons carefully before we make a decision about what our next step should be. Like it or not, there is a lot of bad history between the scouts and generals."

Mina nodded sadly. "You're right, Amy. Then again, you usually are."

Zoicite rushed forward. "Ami…I mean Amy. I know that there has been some bad blood between us because of Beryl's mechanisms. But…"

Mercury held up a hand to cut him off. "Please," she said in a pain filled voice. "I just can't bear to talk to you right now, Zoicite. I need to get away so that I can look at everything from a logical point of view." She turned to Serena. "Can we go someplace where we can talk privately?"

Serena nodded. "Of course. How about we wander over to the park? It should be fairly quiet there at this time of night."

Darien shook his head emphatically. "No! Not the park! I don't want you girls there this late at night by yourselves. I know there are no enemies after us right now, but there are still common, everyday thugs to worry about."

Mina tossed her head, a little of her old spunk snapping in her eyes. "You think we're worried about a few drunks out to score a couple of bucks and perhaps a cheap thrill? In case you've forgotten, we're sailor scouts and we can take care of ourselves."

"No, he's right, Mina," Serena agreed. "We shouldn't go looking for trouble. We have enough of that brewing right here. We can go up on the roof. Nobody ever goes up there, so we should have plenty of privacy."

"Sounds good to me," Mercury muttered as she glowed light blue for a moment. Her fuku melted away, leaving her in a khaki skirt and white blouse. She grabbed Mina's hand and tugged on it gently. "Let's go, Mina."

Mina followed her to the door, glancing back over her shoulder once to look at Kunzite in wonder. He gave her a small smile that caused her to blush and giggle lightly before she scrambled after her blue haired friend.

Serena kissed Darien's cheek quickly before she hurried after them. "I'll be back. I don't think Mina will take much convincing, but if I can sway Amy to our side she could be a big help in helping to convince Lita and Raye."

Darien grinned after her as he watched her walk away, unable to keep from admiring the way her hips swayed under her blue school uniform skirt. He had an animalistic urge to grab her and drag her off to his bed, and he may have acted on it if a ghostly hand hadn't chosen that moment to wave itself in front of his face.

"Hello! Earth to Darien! This is your planet calling!" Jadeite snickered at his lame joke.

"What?" Darien snapped furiously as the door closed behind Serena, cutting her off from his sight.

"Whoa!" the blonde general exclaimed, backing up a few steps and raising his hands in front of him. "Somebody sure got into a foul mood all of a sudden."

Nephrite rolled his eyes. "It's called pent up sexual frustration, you moron! I'm sure you've suffered from it many times since you kept your precious Mars so mad at you most of the time that she would rather burn you to a crisp than allow you into her bed. Now Jupiter on the other hand…"

Darien flushed dark red. "Guys, please! Could we not go into our personal lives right now?"

Jadeite doubled over with laughter. "Look at how red his face is! Honestly, Darien, I don't see what the problem is. You want her and she wants you, end of story. So you two just need to go ahead and do whatever it is that you want to do to each other. You'll both be happier for it."

"I hope Raye does agree to bring you back to life so that I can have the pleasure of killing you myself!" Darien growled as he clenched his fists.

"Not if I beat you to it first," Kunzite retorted in a bored tone. "He really is a little pain in the ass."

Jadeite yelped and jumped behind Zoicite, who rolled his eyes and muttered, "Um, Jed, you might want to find something solid to hide behind. They can see right through me."

"Oh…yeah…right…ha ha," Jadeite laughed nervously before looking down sheepishly at the floor and mumbling, "Sorry. I was just joking around."

Darien couldn't help but grin back. Damn he had missed his generals! He wouldn't trade Andrew as his best friend for all the money in the world, but he had missed the camaraderie he'd had with these guys.

Almost as if his thoughts had conjured him up, Darien's cell phone rang and he looked down to see that it was Andrew calling him. He flipped it open and held it to his ear. "What's up?"

He jerked the phone away as Andrew's yelling voice filled the room without the benefit of a speakerphone. "What's up? That's what I would like to know! Is there some kind of a sailor scout war going on that I don't know about? If there is I wish you'd bring me up to date because I feel like I'm stuck right in the middle of it!"

"Wait! Hold up! What are you talking about?" Darien asked as his friend paused for breath.

"I'll tell you what I'm talking about!" Andrew bellowed. "I'm talking about the fact that I have a seriously pissed off Raye and Lita sitting at my counter right now plotting some kind of revenge against Mina, Amy, and Serena too. I don't know what they have planned, but I overheard them saying something about calling Amara and getting her involved. That woman scares the crap out of me, man!"

"Shit!" Darien cursed under his breath. "Listen, Drew. I'm on my way. I don't care what you have to do, but keep Raye and Lita there. And for God's sake, don't let them make any phone calls!"

He hung up on Andrew's ranting and began running around the apartment, searching for his keys and shoes, muttering. "Great! This is just what I need, those two stirring up trouble! And if they call Amara…argh!"

"Um, Endymi…uh, Darien. Who is this Amara person that seems to have you so worked up?" Kunzite asked in concern.

Darien paused and gave him a grim smile. "You probably know her better as Haruka."

All four generals shuddered violently.

"Damn! Sailor Uranus!" Nephrite hissed.

"Exactly!" Darien confirmed. "I don't know how much you guys remember about her from the past, but she was murderously protective of Serenity during the Silver Millennium and she still is in this life. She and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to Serena, and she's sure to blame this all on me if she finds out about it. So you can see why I would prefer her to not know about you guys until everything's a done deal."

He pointed to Nephrite and Jadeite. "You two are coming with me. Kunzite, Zoicite, I want you to stay here. I don't know if Serena will be able to communicate with you or not, but if she comes back before I do I'm hoping that you can fill her in."

"Wouldn't it just be better to go up on the roof and tell her yourself?" Zoicite mused.

"No way!" Darien denied with a firm shake of his head. "There is enough tension between the girls without forcing them into a hostile situation. One wrong word between them right now could bring their whole team tumbling down like a house of cards. I'm hoping that maybe I can talk a little sense into Raye and Lita without having to get Serena involved. She's got her hands full at the moment with Mina and Amy."

He set the orange and blue stones down on the coffee table and Kunzite and Zoicite faded away. He shoved the red and green stones into his pocket and Jadeite and Nephrite disappeared. He debated for a moment whether to take his car or his motorcycle. The bike was faster, but the car would have plenty of room if he somehow managed to convince Raye and Lita to come back with him. He snagged the car keys off the table in the entry hall and flew out the door.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Amy?" Serena asked for what felt like the fiftieth time. "I don't want you to feel like you have to rush into this. We have plenty of time."

Amy paused on the stairs leading down from the roof to give her friend a reassuring look. "I'm sure, Serena. Now that I've had a chance to calm down and reassemble things in my head I feel better. And I'm not rushing into anything. I only agreed to sit down with Zoi…the generals and listen to what they have to say. I haven't made a definite decision yet, and neither has Mina. Right, Mina?"

Mina's head jerked up like she had been yanked out of deep thought. A bright smile lit her face. "Uh…yeah. Right, Amy!"

"Great Selene, save us all! One look from Kunzite and she turns into jell-o" Amy muttered. "You may as well go ahead and revive Kunzite now, Serena. It's pretty obvious which direction our dear Venus is leaning toward."

Mina blew a raspberry at her. "Speculate all you like, Oh wise, All-knowing Mercury! But I'll have you know that I am more than just a pretty face. While I will admit there is a part of me that longs to have Kunzite back with me, I am just as capable as you are of stepping back and looking at the situation objectively."

"Okay, okay!" Serena exclaimed, coming between them. "If you two are serious about this then let's do it. I'm sure Darien's probably worn a rut in his carpet by now with his pacing."

"That's doubtful," Amy sniffed as she glanced at her watch. "We've only been gone about twenty minutes."

"Huh!" Serena huffed as she continued down the stairs. "You've obviously never seen Darien when he gets really worked up about something. That man has made me dizzy on many occasions just watching him."

"Oh yeah, we've seen it," Mina grumbled. "When we came dragging you in after the fight with Pharaoh 90 and you slept like the dead for twelve hours straight I thought he was going to drive us all insane. Raye and Lita actually had to leave for a while to keep from dragging him outside and sweeping the concrete with him."

Serena sighed sadly. "I hope those two will come around. I love them just the way they are, but sometimes I wish they wouldn't be so stubborn. All I'm asking of any of you is just to let the generals explain things to you in their own words. Technically I know that I could order you to help me bring them back to life, but I have never used that power in either of my lives and I don't want to start now. This is your decision to make."

She wiped the downtrodden expression off her face as they reached Darien's apartment and she swung the door open wide. "Darien! We're back!" Only silence greeted them.

"That's weird," she muttered as they wandered into the living room. "Maybe he went to the bathroom or something." She took off down the hall that led to the master bedroom and bathroom. She was back in less than half a minute with a frown on her face. "He's not here."

"Maybe he ran to the store. You know, to get ice cream and munchies," Mina chirped cheerfully. "I could really go for some sugar therapy right now."

"Um, Serena," Amy said quietly as she pointed at the coffee table. "Aren't those…?"

Serena followed her finger and squealed when she saw the stones lying there. "Kunzite and Zoicite! He left them behind!" She scooped up stones and then pouted when nothing happened. "They won't work for me!"

Mina peered curiously at the orange stone in Serena's palm. "Is that really…him?" She touched her fingers lightly to it.

There was a soft flash of light and Kunzite appeared. Mina squeaked and tried to jerk her hand away, but Serena grasped her wrist tightly. "No, Mina! Hang on to it. He'll disappear if you let go."

Mina locked her fingers tightly around the surprisingly warm stone and held onto it like her life depended on it as Serena hurried over to Amy and shoved the green stone into her hand. There was another flash as Zoicite appeared.

Amy started in shock and the stone almost tumbled from her suddenly limp fingers, but then she tightened her hand into a fist, clutching the stone firmly.

Both spirits bowed their heads. "My ladies," Kunzite spoke politely. "What may we do for you?"

"You can drop the Mr. Gentleman act for one!" Serena snapped. "What happened to Darien? We were only gone for a little bit and we came back to find him gone. I'm assuming he took Jadeite and Nephrite with him."

Her mouth opened in shock as a thought occurred. "Oh no! He didn't go to talk to Raye and Lita, did he?"

"The prince received a phone call just a few minutes after you left," Zoicite began explaining in his no nonsense tone. "His friend Andrew called to inform him that Lady Mars and Lady Jupiter were at his business establishment and were causing quite a ruckus. They were even discussing the possibility of calling," he paused for a moment, "Lady Uranus in to help handle this situation."

Serena's face paled quickly, leaving it the pasty color of chalk. "They're calling Amara?"

"Not yet," Kunzite hastily reassured her. "Darien went to see if he could talk to them before they did anything rash."

"And he didn't think to tell me before he went?" her face was flushed with anger now.

Zoicite looked slightly abashed. "I mentioned that to him, but he said that you had enough going on right now and that he would take care of it."

"I don't believe him!" she exploded. "Even after the talk we had, he's still treating me like a child! Raye and Lita are my scouts! I can't believe that he would just leave me out like this!"

"Maybe we should go after him," Amy suggested. "Raye and Lita together might be more than he can handle on his own."

Serena jammed her hand into her pocket and pulled out her transformation brooch. "Oh I'm going after him all right! Beryl's going to look like a cuddly Care Bear by the time I'm done! Moon Eternal Power!"

* * *

"Andrew," Lita purred as she crooked her finger at him. "Be a good boy and give me mine and Raye's phones back, pretty please."

Andrew's hands quickly flew to cover the pocket of his apron where he had stashed both the red and green cell phones a few minutes earlier. "Phones? What phones? I don't have any phones. Just mine. See." He pulled his black phone out his pants pocket and showed it to her.

He let out a yell as the auburn haired amazon lunged across the counter at him. He ran for the end and then jumped over an overturned table, desperate to keep some piece of furniture between him and the dangerously enraged girl that was after him. "Darien! I could use some help here!"

"I'm…a little…busy…at the moment," his dark haired friend wheezed out with what little breath he could draw in with a pair of arms wrapped around his neck.

Pandemonium had broken loose a few minutes before when the reincarnated prince had strolled into the thankfully closed and quiet arcade to confront the two disgruntled girls that had been sitting at the counter whispering together over milkshakes. Without a word he had confiscated both of their cell phones and handed them to a wide-eyed Andrew.

A screaming match between the three had ensued and had escalated to the point that now Lita was stalking Andrew while Raye had somehow ended up on Darien's back where she was attempting to strangle him.

"Geez! Where's Serena when you need her?" Andrew muttered.

Lita snarled, "Probably off with Mina and Amy planning all of the fun triple dates they can go on together. I figured Mina would cave in fast, but I never thought that Amy would be taken in so easily."

Andrew held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Look, I'm a lover, not a fighter. I don't know what the deal is between you, Raye, and the other girls, but I'm not in on it, okay!"

Lita kicked a chair out of her way. "Then give us back our phones."

"But Darien told me to hang on to them," Andrew insisted as he shot a worried look toward his friend who was beginning to turn purple in the face.

"And do you always do what your precious little Darien says?" Lita sneered. "Probably so. It seems like that's what everyone's doing nowadays. But I'm taking those phones back from you Andrew, even if I have to take them by force. Now I don't want to hurt you, so I suggest that you hand them over nicely."

Andrew shook his head firmly. "Not happening, Lita. I'm sure whatever's going on between you girls can be solved peacefully between yourselves. But if you call in that freaking female He-Man, Amara, all hell is going to break loose. Now I'm sure whatever Serena, Mina, and Amy have done can't be that bad."

"It's not entirely their fault," Raye hissed from her perch on Darien's back. "It's mostly Mr. Princey-pants doing. Serena would have never gotten such a wild idea in her head if he had just kept his damn mouth shut about those stones."

"Get…off of me…Raye," Darien gasped.

The raven-haired girl smiled grimly. "I will when I feel like it! I figure you deserve to suffer a little bit for all the trouble you've caused. Everything has been going so smoothly for the last few months, but you just couldn't let it go on that way. You had to rock the boat by bringing up old enemies. Now you have me arguing with my best friends!"

Darien threw himself backward into a wall, not hard, just hard enough to knock the breath out of Raye so that she would let him go. He hated doing it to her, but a man had to breath.

She landed in a heap on the floor and glared up at him. "That was dirty pool, Shields!"

"You were choking me to death!" he yelled at her, glowering. Then his gaze softened some. He and Raye had dated, very briefly, a couple of years ago, before he and Serena had gotten together. There hadn't been anything romantic between them, they'd never even held hands, but he had always felt a close friendship with the fiery priestess.

"I'm not doing this to cause trouble, Raye," he said quietly. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. The guys never asked to be captured and brainwashed by Beryl. They were innocent of any wrongdoing. Don't they deserve the same second chance that the rest of us got?" He held out a hand to help her up.

She kept her eyes downcast, but let him pull her to her feet. Then she turned the full force of her smoldering gaze on him. "That's easy for you to say, _Endymion_! Serenity never betrayed you. You were both reborn into this life so you could be together. I've felt the sting of love's betrayal. And let me tell you, it's the worst pain that you could possibly imagine. I can't open myself up to that again. I can't!"

"Raye," Lita whispered and stumbled over to her friend to put an arm around her shoulders. Tears of pain were glimmering in her eyes.

Darien picked up a napkin from a nearby table and used it to fish the two stones out of his pocket, careful not to touch them with his bare skin. The last thing he needed at the moment was for Jadeite and Nephrite to pop in unexpectedly. He wrapped each one carefully in a napkin and motioned for Andrew to join him.

"What are you doing?" the sandy blonde asked him.

Darien smiled sadly. "I'm playing my trump card. Give me their phones."

"You do realize that we've had an audience for the past minute, don't you?" Andrew muttered as he reached into his apron pocket.

"Yeah, I know," Darien sighed. He had sensed Serena transforming a few minutes ago and had felt her swirling, angry aura as she had entered the arcade. But he had wanted to finish with this ordeal before he faced her. He didn't blame her for being mad. He would be too if the roles were reversed. But he felt that Raye and Lita needed a harsh reality check, and that just wasn't in Serena's nature.

Once Andrew had handed over the devices he held them out to the girls along with a napkin wrapped package. "Do me a favor and don't call Amara. We don't need her involved in this. And I'm turning Jadeite and Nephrite over to you. You two are the only ones that can decide their fate. With me they will never exist as anything other than shadows. Do whatever you want with them. Smash them into a million little pieces if it makes you happy. But if you decide that you want to give them their second chance then bring them to me and Serena and we'll see what we can do. I'm not asking you to let them back into your lives. I'm just asking you to set them free."

Both girls gave him a wide-eyed stare before reaching out and taking the phones and the precious stones without a word.

Darien turned and walked away, stopping briefly beside Andrew to say quietly, "I'll call you later and fill you in."

"You better," his friend muttered back. "Have I ever told you that your life is better than a soap opera? Who needs T.V. with you and the girls around?"

Darien chuckled and clasped his shoulder briefly before continuing to the door and the silently watchful girl standing there.

"Wait until we get out of here first," he told Serena, cutting her off as she started to say something.

"But Raye and Lita," she protested as she looked over his shoulder.

He could tell by her expression that she wanted to run to them, so he took her by the arm and led her from the arcade. "Let them deal with this, Serena. I've put the ball in their court. Now it's all up to them."

She nodded sadly. "I can't believe you handed over Jadeite and Nephrite like that. Aren't you afraid the girls will break them or throw them in the lake or something?"

"I don't think they will," he replied softly. "They don't actually hate Jed and Neph. I think they're more scared than anything, scared of getting their hopes up only to be hurt again. But their souls are the ones that are most tightly bound to the guys, so it's only fair to leave it in their hands. Plus they're both stubborn and domineering. With the stones in their possession they'll feel like they are in control."

A slow smile spread over Serena's face. "Ah! So you're putting some of your psychology courses to good use."

"I guess you could say that," he answered with a grin. "Now how about you? I thought you were mad at me. I could feel it through our bond a few minutes ago, but now it's gone."

She glared at him. "I was mad at you! I couldn't believe that you ran off without telling me what was going on. I felt like you were keeping things from me again. But then I heard what you and Raye said to each other and I realized why you did it. If I had tried to handle it I probably would have just stood there and let her rant at me and believed that I deserved it. You handled the situation much more forcibly than I could have and hopefully you will have better results."

"We'll see," he sighed. "Now what are you doing out and about by yourself? Did you drop Mina and Amy off the roof?"

She giggled. "No silly! I left them at your place talking to Kunzite and Zoicite."

Darien jerked in response. "What do you mean talking to them? They're able to communicate with them?"

Serena nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! The stones didn't do anything when I picked them up. But when Mina and Amy touched them Kunzite and Zoicite appeared. I thought they could use some alone time so I told them to stay there while I came after you."

"Well that should make things even more interesting where Raye and Lita are concerned," he mumbled around a yawn. It had been a long and mentally exhausting day. "Now let's go see if we can run everybody out of my apartment. I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep."

"I can still stay over tonight, right?" she asked anxiously as she followed him to his car.

He gave her an indulgent smile. "Of course you can."

* * *

Lita sat on the small balcony of her apartment, kicked back in a chair with her feet resting on the railing as she stared up at the star filled sky. She hadn't planned on staying at home tonight, but after that whole fiasco with Darien at the arcade earlier Raye had asked if she minded if they didn't have the sleepover that they had planned.

Lita had recognized the urgent need to be alone that was burning in her friend's violet eyes and had readily agreed since she felt the same way. Normally she hated being alone. It reminded her too much of the lonely years she had spent as a social outcast before she had met her friends. But tonight it felt peaceful to sit here in the quiet. It gave her chance to get her thoughts together.

She was even allowing herself to think about Nephrite without shying away from the memories like a startled deer. This was just the kind of night that he would have enjoyed. The sky was clear and the stars were out by the thousands. He had always been so in tune with the stars.

She felt a sensation that felt like a faint buzzing coming from her jeans pocket and she reached in and pulled out the napkin that Darien had given to her earlier. She set it on her legs and carefully unwrapped it. The green stone glinted softly in the starlight and seemed to hum with energy.

Without a second thought she picked it up. There was a flash of light, and when she looked up the translucent form of Nephrite was standing next to her.

"Great Thundering Jupiter!" she bellowed as she jumped. Her chair, already balancing precariously on two legs, slipped out from underneath her and she went crashing to the ground.

Nephrite started in shock. "Makoto! Are you okay?"

It took her a second to realize that he was actually there and was speaking to her. "The name's Lita!" she snapped as stood up, gingerly rubbing her now sore rear end.

His ghostly brow furrowed in thought. "I knew that. Serena told me. You're Lita Kino, a seventeen-year-old high school student and the reincarnation of Sailor Jupiter from the Silver Millennium. Both of your parents are deceased and you live alone."

"Glad to see you've got my bio," she muttered sarcastically. "Any other stats that you would like to know? Perhaps you would like to know my bra size. Well dream on buddy 'cause it's not happening!"

A small frown turned down his lips. "What is a bra? Are you joking with me? I'm afraid I'm still a little lost when it comes to some modern sayings."

"Never mind. It didn't mean anything," Lita sighed. "I'm very confused though. How are you here?"

Nephrite nodded to the stone she still held in her hand. "You must have activated my soul stone. I thought that only happened when Endym…Darien touched it. But since our souls were once entwined you must have the power to release me from it as well. So how did you end up with me?"

"Darien gave you to me," she mumbled as she gazed down at the jade colored stone in her palm. "He said that it was up to me to decide your fate."

Nephrite nodded. "Ah! So he's leaving the decision up to you. That is a very wise choice. Serenity could command that you bring me back to life, but her and Endymion's reincarnations are just as noble as their past selves were."

"Death doesn't change a person," Lita whispered. "As long as the soul is the same then the person remains virtually unchanged."

Nephrite's mouth quirked up in a grin. "Are you sure about that? I don't remember you being quite so philosophical before."

She growled at him. "Keep it up and I'll smash you under my foot!"

He shuddered, but the grin stayed in place. "Now that's the Jupiter that I remember! I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me."

She shook her head. "I don't have any questions in particular. I guess I kind of want to know it all. Serena and Darien gave us a run down of what happened, but I want to hear it in your own words."

He sighed and looked up at the sky. "The stars are beautiful tonight." At Lita's warning growl he continued. "It all started when I rode out with Endymion, Kunzite, and the rest of our army to face Beryl and her followers. We had already been fighting them for quite a while and many people had been killed or simply came up missing. Zoicite and Jadeite were already among them."

"I remember that," Lita whispered. "You and Endymion managed to get a few hours free and came to the moon to tell Mars and Mercury about their disappearances. Before you left you swore to me that you wouldn't fall prey to Beryl and her minions."

He gave her a sad little smile. "I guess I unintentionally lied. Believe me, it was never in my plans to fall into that witch's hands."

Lita leaned her back against the balcony railing and propped her elbows up on each side. "Well, _general_, you can count yourself lucky that you caught me in a decent mood tonight. I figure there must be some truth to all of this since you've managed to convince Darien that you're actually the good guys. No offense to Serena, but she can be a little naïve. She always wants to see the best in people no matter what. But I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and hear what you have to say. I'm not saying that I'm committing to helping you, but I will listen."

He inclined his head to her. "That is all I can ask."

* * *

_'Rei…'_

Raye's eyes popped open and she stared into the flames of the Great Fire. Normally she could see visions whenever she meditated in front of the soothing, yet scorching flames. But every time she tried tonight she kept running into _him_.

'_Stop fighting it, Rei,' _his voice whispered.

She clenched her fists. "Get out of my head, Jadeite! You're messing up my sight!"

She heard a chuckle. _'I'm not doing it, Firefly. I don't have my powers right now. You're the one that keeps drawing me in.'_

"Am not!" she muttered petulantly. "I'm trying to see everyone else's future and you keep getting in the way."

_'Maybe that's because I'm in your future. Did you ever think of that?'_

"Not hardly!" she snorted. "I think you're doing this just to screw with me!"

'_Hmm…is that an invitation? I wish I could take you up on that.'_

She scowled darkly at the red stone lying on the napkin by the fire. "Once a pervert, always a pervert I see. Let's see how you like this!"

She snatched the stone up, intending to throw it into the fire where it would melt. But the moment her fingers closed around it Jadeite appeared in a flash of light. The flames roared higher in response to her shock, snapping and crackling as they made shadows dance across the walls.

"No, no! Don't do that!" Jadeite protested as he waved his hands frantically. "I'm sorry for flirting with you, but please don't throw me into the fire!"

Raye counted her blessings that she was already sitting down, because her legs suddenly felt as wobbly as cooked spaghetti noodles. Her heart thundered in her chest at the sight of his once beloved features. Even in his ghostly translucence, he was still handsome enough to take her breath away.

She kept her face carefully blank as she stared at him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't roast your ass!"

His washed out eyes widened in panic, making her long for the vibrant blue they had once been. He fell to his knees dramatically and clasped his hands together at his chest. "Oh great and powerful Mars! Please don't punish this lowly lecher for his errant thoughts! I promise you a lifetime of servitude if you can find it in your heart to overlook my perverted transgressions."

Raye was horrified to feel her mouth twitch, trying to smile as a laugh bubbled in her chest. She turned away from him so that he wouldn't see it and coughed to cover up the laugh.

"Very well, _General Jadeite_," she replied, cringing when her voice came out more amused than stern. "I will grant you a short reprieve…for now."

He jumped up, floating almost to the ceiling in his excitement before his feet came back down to the floor. "Thank you, thank you, Your Fiery-ness! I could hug you right now!" Then he frowned as he looked down at his semi-transparent body. "Well technically I can't, but you get my point."

She swallowed another laugh. "Knock it off, Jed! You're acting like a fan-girl!"

His brow wrinkled up in concentration. "What's a fan-girl? Oh! That's right! Serena explained that to me when she was showing me what cartoons were." His face took on a look of horror. "I would never run around screaming after an adolescent boy, either real or make believe! How could you ever think that of me? I am a general of Earth and protector of the royal family!"

Raye put her fingers to her slightly pounding temples. Just two minutes alone with this guy and he was already giving her a headache. "Holy Ares, save me now! It was a figure of speech, dumbass! Well now that you're here, and I obviously can't do any fire reading with you around to interrupt me, do have anything useful to say at all?"

That wiped the smile off his face. He suddenly looked stern and serious, just like the fiercesome general he had once been. "What do you want me to say, Rei? There are so many matters between us that I'm not sure where to begin."

Raye cursed herself as she felt the prickle of tears sting her eyes. "Why don't you start at the beginning? How could you betray me the way you did? I thought we had something special together! You told me that you loved me! But then that bitch took you and sent you to kill me! Is that the way you treat the woman that you love?"

She was screaming hysterically by the end of her tirade and it made him cringe. His sad eyes met her wild ones as he said softly, "I didn't have a choice."

She choked on a sob and tried to slap him, only to have her hand pass right through him. "How can you say that you didn't have a choice? Didn't I mean anything to you? Why didn't you fight back?"

He shook his head. "I did fight back. That's how I ended up being split in two. We were in the middle of a battle against Beryl's rebels and I got separated from the other guys. Zoicite had disappeared a couple of days before and I thought I saw him through the smoke so I followed him. Then a burst of dark energy came out of nowhere and hit me and I passed out. When I came to I was strapped down to a stone table and Beryl was there. She asked me to help her by luring Endymion to her side and allying with her to conquer the moon. I told her hell no, and then she hit me with some kind of magic. That's the last thing I remember until I found myself on the moon with you…dead…in my arms. So like I said, I didn't have a choice. That right was taken from me."

Raye sucked in a shuddering breath. "Okay, you have my attention now. I'm not promising to help bring you back to life, but I want to know everything; every tiny, little detail."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "It would be easier to show you. Call up your flames, sweetheart and I'll let you see things the way I saw them."

She frowned. "I thought you didn't have your powers. And don't call me sweetheart!"

He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "I don't have my powers. But our souls are connected and that will allow me to transmit my memories to you using your powers."

Raye turned to kneel properly in front of the fire. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together tightly. "Okay. Let's do this."

* * *

"So you don't remember anything after Beryl placed the spell on you?" Amy mumbled sleepily as she lay in her bed. She had returned home to the penthouse apartment she shared with her mother instead of going to the shrine when Serena and Darien had gotten back from the arcade. She had been in a deep discussion with Zoicite and hadn't wanted to leave him, so Serena had suggested that she take his stone with her.

Zoicite's form seemed to be sitting on the side of her bed, but in reality he was only hovering above it. His ghostly form exerted no pressure on the mattress.

He shook his head slowly. "One minute I was on the battlefield helping the medical corps treat the wounded soldiers. The next thing I knew I was being held captive by Beryl. When I refused to betray my prince or the moon kingdom she went wild. That is all I can recall until I came to on the moon and found you dead by my hand."

"And then you took your own life," Amy whispered, her blue eyes large and luminous in the faint glow of light from her window. "Why did you do that?"

He gave her a look of disbelief. "I had just killed my soul mate. It was the honorable thing to do. Aphrodite herself probably would have struck me dead if I had let myself go unpunished."

"But you still had Endymion," she said softly. "You could have returned to your rightful place at his side. That battle for the moon might have turned out differently if you and the other generals had swapped back to our side."

His face took on a lost, sad expression. "The moon was already lost. There was no turning that battle around. And even if there had been a chance, what kind of life would I have had? Beryl still held my soul bound. As you can see, even her death didn't break that spell. If the moon had been victorious that day, I may have been able to return to a semblance of my life. But it would have been only a half-life without you there. I would have tortured myself everyday of my existence and begged for Hades to take me."

Amy propped herself up on an elbow. "You shouldn't have punished yourself for something that was out of your control. I knew from the moment you stepped in front of me that day on the moon that it wasn't you. You were too gentle of a man to ever act violently against anyone that wasn't your enemy. I understood that. If I hadn't I never would have fought against you that day."

He slumped forward to stare at the floor. "But it was me, in a way. It was my body. And though it pains me to admit it, it was a part of my soul that acted so shamefully that day. You say that it wasn't me, but in truth it really was."

She reached out to him, sighing when her hand passed right through his shoulder. She wished that she could offer him the comfort that he desperately seemed to need. "Zoicite, that wasn't you. Beryl pulled out the darkness in your soul and twisted it around to serve her. She brainwashed you into thinking that I was the enemy. It could have happened to anyone. It even happened to Darien. That witch captured him and turned him against us. He came very close to killing Serena, and he probably would have if she hadn't fought back as hard as she did. So I wish you would stop beating yourself up over this. What's done is done. It's all in the past."

He turned his head to look at her. Tears would have been shining in his eyes if he had been capable of them in this form. He stared at her in wonderment. "How can you be so forgiving of my transgressions?"

She shrugged. "I guess that's just who I am. I have decided that I'm going to help you. Your words tonight have convinced me that you deserve a second chance at life." She held up a hand to stop him as he started to speak. "This doesn't necessarily mean that I'm willing to accept you back into my life on a personal basis, but I think you deserve a shot at what all this world has to offer."

He bowed his head. "I understand. Thank you, Mercury."

She nodded. "You're welcome." Then she smothered a yawn behind her hand.

"You should get some sleep," he told her gently. "It's been a long night."

"You're right," she agreed as she settled back against her pillows. Within a few minutes her eyes had closed and her breathing had taken on the deep and even rhythm of sleep.

She had fallen asleep still holding tightly to the blue stone in her hand, and through the whole night she never let go of it once. So Zoicite's spirit kept watch over her through the night, admiring the beauty of both her sleeping face and her forgiving soul.

* * *

Artemis woke up as Mina rolled over in the bed and her foot nudged him. He opened his eyes and yawned, stretching as he stood and turned around to reposition himself. Just as he was curling up to drift off again, a flicker of movement beside the bed caught his eye. He glared harshly at the figure sitting on the floor by the head of the bed.

"Oh! Are you still here?" he tried to sneer, but his voice came out sounding nasally thanks to his rotten head cold.

Kunzite looked up calmly. "She's still holding my soul stone. As long as she does, this is where I'll stay."

"Well I can take care of that for you!" Artemis snapped as he began nosing his way toward where Mina's hand rested, palm up on the mattress. Her fingers were curled loosely around the orange stone.

Kunzite chuckled softly. "You used to like me, Artemis."

The feline's tail twitched. "I never _liked _you. I tolerated you because you made her happy, and her happiness is one of the most important things in the world to me. But my tolerance ran out when you literally stabbed her in the back."

The platinum haired general winced at his choice of words. "I can see why you would be distrustful of me. Believe me, I'm not proud of my past mistakes. I would rather Beryl had killed me outright when I refused to join her instead of turning me against the people that were important to me. Deep down I don't believe I deserve a second chance. But when I look at her…"

He broke off to pass a tender glance over Mina's sleeping features. Then he sighed deeply. "When I look at Mina I see her as everything that Minako wanted to be. She's bright, bubbly, and vivacious; all of the things that Minako had to keep locked up inside and could only let out on rare occasions. It gives me hope when I see that."

Artemis snorted. "She's definitely not exactly the same girl she once was. She can be overly giggly, whiny, and a bit of a featherbrain sometimes," he warned, hoping to scare the general off.

But instead Kunzite smiled softly. "I think I could live with that."

"I mean she can be a real airhead," Artemis insisted. "Outside of her scout duties she barely keep her brain focused on one thing for more than a few minutes. She spends her days daydreaming through her classes when she should be studying and squealing over a different boy every minute. And don't even get me started on her shopping habits. She has closets full of clothes that she just has to buy and then never wears. You could cloth a small country with the things she's bought that still has the price tags on them."

"Artemis," Kunzite interrupted softly. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not working. So her personality has changed. I'm not going to run away just because of that. It's who she is on the inside that matters most. She still retains that same wonderful, loving soul that she always possessed, and that's what draws me to her."

The white feline regarded him critically. "She's going to end up helping you, you know. She's Aphrodite's ancestor, and it would tear her apart to turn her back on her soul mate now that she's found you again."

"I know," the general sighed. "I only hope she does it because she still harbors some feelings for me and not because of some sense of duty."

Artemis curled up next to Mina's side. "And if she is successful in returning you to the physical world, she won't be able to stay away from you. Her heart won't let her. You will be involved in her life from now on. Are you prepared for that?"

Kunzite returned his gaze steadily. "I know you are more than just an advisor to her, Artemis. You are a friend and a father to her. So I give you my word. I will give up my own life before I do anything to hurt her ever again."

Artemis laid his head down and grumbled. "You better not. Because if you do I'll have Serena use the Silver Crystal to grant me my human form for just two minutes. That's all the time I'll need to kill you myself."

* * *

"Serena," Darien groaned as he felt her warm lips travel down his neck. His head arched back involuntarily when she licked his collarbone.

"Hmm…" she murmured as her eyes rose to meet his.

He sucked in a much needed lungful of air. "We need to cool it a bit. Every man has his limits, and you're pushing me very close to my breaking point."

She smiled seductively. "Am I?" she whispered and leaned down to nip playfully at his bare chest.

He growled low in his throat. "Stop that, Serena! I'm serious! If you keep that up I won't be responsible for what happens next."

She slid her mouth up to his ear and blew a breath across it. "Maybe I want you to lose control."

"That's it!" he exclaimed as he jumped from the bed, knocking her off of him to land on her back in the middle of the king sized mattress. "I knew I should have just slept on the couch. This is getting to be too much."

Serena lay there, unmoving as her eyes filled up with tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Yeah, so am I!" he snapped back as he grabbed a t-shirt from a nearby chair and pulled it on over his head. "Do you know how damn hard it is to try and be the good guy when you're half naked and crawling all over me?"

She sniffled and sat up; tugging down his white button down shirt she was wearing to make sure her lacy pink panties were covered. She used the sleeve to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

His heart softened at the picture she made there; sitting in the middle of his huge bed with her long legs curled under her while his shirt practically swallowed her whole. Her sky blue eyes were wide and glassy with tears while her cheeks and the tip of her perky little nose were turning pink. Her golden, knee length hair lay around her like a cloak.

He perched tentatively on the edge of the bed. "Look, Sere, I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound so crabby, but I'm trying to do the right thing here. You're sixteen. I'm almost twenty. We have plenty of time to further our relationship. We don't have to rush things."

Her eyes turned from teary to glaring. "Who's rushing anything? We've already been together for over two years, Darien! I may have been too young before, but I'm not now. Age has nothing to do with it. I will turn seventeen before you turn twenty. I'm not a gawky fourteen year old anymore. Why can't you see that?"

"I do see that," he reassured her gently. "And believe me, I would like nothing better than to make you mine in every sense of the word. But I want to make sure that you're ready, both physically and emotionally, before we take the next step."

"Oh! Here we go!" Serena moaned and flopped back onto the bed. "I wish you would drop the whole noble prince routine. A few months ago you claimed that I was just acting on rampant emotions left over from fighting Chaos. I guess now you're going to claim that this whole deal with the scouts and generals has knocked me off balance."

"Well it has been an emotional day," he muttered.

"Argh!" she screeched as she scrambled up on her knees and poked him in the shoulder. "You can be such a stick in the mud sometimes! You weren't even this uptight back during the Silver Millennium. I remember you taking advantage of every chance you could to make love to me!"

His face paled. "You remember that?"

She poked him again. "You're darned right I do! I was only sixteen then, so I don't see what my age has to do with anything now. At the rate we're going I'm still going to be a virgin when I'm eighty because I'm sure not going to let anybody else touch me!"

Her tirade broke off suddenly and she scooted away from him to stare at him in shock. "Omigosh! I can't believe I never thought of this before. Are you…have you been with someone else?"

"What? No!" he exclaimed loudly. "Why would you think that?"

"I may be naïve in some areas, but I'm not stupid!" she returned flippantly. "I know that men have…certain needs. And I just figured that if you weren't getting it from me than you must be getting it from someone else."

He shook his head violently. "Now you're just being ridiculous! I can't believe we're even having this conversation. You are the only one for me, Serena. You're the only woman that I would ever want to be with. I love you and only you."

A smile trembled on her lips. "Really?"

He pulled her to him and hugged her close. "Of course, silly! Who else would I be with besides my princess? Now let's put this whole crazy ordeal behind us and get some sleep. I'm sure the rest of the weekend will be just as hectic as today was."

"I love you!" Serena cried happily and kissed his cheek before bouncing to the head of the bed to lay her head on a pillow. She smiled sweetly at him and patted the spot next to her.

Darien eyed her warily. "I don't know. Maybe I should still go sleep on the couch, just to be safe."

Her lower lip stuck out in a pout. "You wouldn't really leave me in this giant bed by myself, would you? You don't have to sleep in the living room. I promise I'll be good. I'll keep my hands and my lips to myself. I just don't want to sleep alone."

Poor Darien! He always was a sucker for her pleading blue eyes. He felt himself getting sucked into them, and before he knew it he was climbing into bed next to her, careful to keep a foot of space between them.

Half an hour passed and he was still lying awake. He listened to Serena's breathing and could tell that she was only feigning sleep. He finally gave in and rolled over to pull her against his chest.

"Go to sleep. I've got you," he mumbled as he kissed the top of her head.

She snuggled into his embrace and whispered sleepily. "Goodnight. I love you."

**A/N **Things are slowly starting to come together now. Mina and Amy are both on board to do a little hocus-pocus and zap the guys back to life. Now we just have to wait for Nephrite and Jadeite to work their charms on their ladies. On second though, maybe Jed should do nothing at all. Don't you just love him! I'm sure most of you know by now if you've read any of my other stories that he's my favorite general. I know I make him out to be a goofball pervert, but I just can't help myself. He's just so adorable in my mind! As a matter of fact I was skimming through some rough drafts of _Stolen Hearts_ the other night and Jake (hopefully you remember him from What If) came up to me and asked (I warned you guys before that I talk to my characters), anyway, he asked if he had to be such a lecher just because he's Jadeite's reincarnation. It just about broke my heart. Luckily Asanuma and Kobyashi (from Rekindled) came by and begged him not to change because they needed a third member for their group in the new story, so I was saved. Yay! It also looks like Serena is going to have to put some serious moves on Darien pretty soon. If you refer back chapter…I think chapter 21 of _Lunar Princess, _Serena tells Jess an amusing story about black lingerie and seducing Darien. So things could get fun soon! Good grief! I can't believe I'm still rambling. No more caffeine for me tonight. I doubt anyone's still reading this. Well if you are, please don't be shy about dropping me a review and telling me what you think. They are as important as air to me! Later gators! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	5. Unraveling the Threads

**A/N **Hey, hey! Update time! I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself. I was snowed in for several days this past week and I got quite a bit of work done on my stories, at least when I could wrangle some computer time or I wasn't out playing in the snow. That's the good thing about working for a school, when the kids get snow days, I get snow days too! Not to mention summer vacation is way cool! I'm already looking forward to that. Bring on the heat!

Anyway, Let me get on with my hugs. You guys all know who you are, but I have to take a moment to acknowledge you. What kind of writer would I be if I didn't do that? BIG HUGS TO:

CharmedSerenity3

**Swinkinator**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**saveme57**

**Nuisha**

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**snoopykid**

**sabina21**

**GoldenDragon326**

**KageNoNeko**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**Chibi Kitt**

**Rebekka**

**YingYing**

**Seredhiel05**

**anime-lover10**

**jade2nightwing**

**Jaguarsolaris**

**Hikari Urania**

**roswellachick**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**LBricker88**

**unlockurdestiny**

**sailorashes**

A million and one thank yous to you all. And now, on with the story!

_**ENJOY!**_

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 5

Unraveling the Threads

"Your total comes to $132.61, Miss Aino," Mina absently handed over her credit card and then scribbled her name carelessly on the charge slip a few seconds later when it was set in front of her.

"Mina," Kunzite hissed next to her, invisible to everyone else in the department store except her. "Is that how money works here in this time?"

She bit her tongue to keep from replying and handed the slip and pen back to the saleswoman with a smile as she accepted the bag that contained the blouse, skirt, and sundress that she had just purchased. The woman wished her a pleasant day and Mina returned the sentiment before turning and walking away.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

The specter beside her looked perplexed. "Do what?"

"Talk to me when I'm in front of other people," she said louder and then lowered her voice again. "Do you know how insane I will look if people see me talking to myself? I can see the headlines now; _Former Child Actress Goes Crazy_."

He cocked his head in confusion. "Former child actress?"

She sighed. "It's a long story, and one that I don't feel like going into right now. The point is that I've been out of the spotlight for a few years and I'd like to keep it that way."

Kunzite still wasn't sure what she meant, but she sounded serious so he nodded his head in agreement and remained silent as they weaved their way through the complex maze of the department store.

"Oh! How adorable!" Mina suddenly exclaimed and rushed over to look at a pair of boots that were on display. She checked the price and was thrilled to see that they had been dramatically marked down.

She studied them for a few minutes before setting them back down with a sad shake of her head. She had several outfits that the boots would go perfectly with, but in reality she already had a pair almost identical to them at home. Besides, it was springtime now. It would be several months before it would be cold enough for boots.

She looked up, and then her head whipped from side to side. Where had Kunzite gone? He had been right next to her a second ago, hadn't he? Luckily it was still fairly early in the day so the store wasn't overly crowded. He should be easy to spot.

Then she snorted softly. He would be easy to spot even if the store was jammed packed. How many see through, 6'4" guys with long, silvery platinum hair were running around Tokyo right now? Just one that she was aware of.

She clenched the orange stone that she had been carrying in her hand tighter to make sure that the connection was solid. For all she knew she may have loosened her grip enough to cause him to disappear. The only time that she had released that stone since Serena had given it to her the night before had been when she had showered this morning. She had even slept while holding it. Artemis had grumbled that it had been impossible to get any real sleep with the general sitting by her bedside like a watchful sentry all night.

She finally spotted his faintly shimmering head above a couple of racks and breathed an audible sigh of relief. Evidently something must have caught his attention and he had wandered off.

She hurried to see what had entranced Kunzite so much that he would leave her side, and then skidded to a halt when she saw in which department he was standing. A loud screech clawed at her throat, but she managed to swallow it back down before she called attention to herself.

Her wayward general was standing right smack dab in the middle of the ladies intimate apparel department, surrounded by bras, panties, lingerie, stockings, garters, and just about anything else you could possibly think of. Although he couldn't touch it, he had his hand stretched out toward a skimpy, black lace thong. The look of confusion on his face was so childlike that she would have found it endearing if she hadn't felt so mortified.

She knew she couldn't go over and confront him without looking like an escapee from a mental institution, but she had to get him out of there. So she quickly shoved her hand into the pocket of the lightweight jacket she wore and let the stone drop. Kunzite immediately disappeared.

She stalked from the store, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, and didn't stop until she was several blocks away. Then she ducked into a deserted alley and pulled the stone back out.

Kunzite flickered back into sight, looking more perplexed than ever. "What happened?"

Mina felt her cheeks flare hotter and knew that her face probably resembled a tomato by now. She gritted her teeth tightly and ground out, "You were in the middle of the women's underwear department!"

He tilted his head to the side. "Is that wrong? I was comparing the difference between clothing now and the clothing from the Silver Millennium. I still find it hard to believe that petticoats and corsets have gone out of fashion. Not that you ever needed a corset. You were always so slender that you never wore one. But I did like the way the skirts of your gowns used to swirl around when wore your ruffled petticoats underneath them."

"Stop!" she moaned. "I can't believe we're even talking about this. This is the twenty-first century, not the Silver Millennium. Women don't cover themselves with layers of heavy clothes anymore. And men don't stand around studying women's lingerie unless they want to be labeled a pervert."

Comprehension lit his face. "Oh, I see. I guess that was tactless of me. But I figured there would be no harm since nobody but you could see me. I didn't think that the subject of undergarments would embarrass you since you are the goddess of love."

"I'm not embarrassed," she insisted, although her bright red face gave her away. "I'm just not used to discussing what I wear under my clothes with a man."

"Consider the subject dropped then," Kunzite replied politely. Then the corners of his mouth turned up in the barest hint of a smile. "You sure are beautiful when you blush."

She looked away and muttered, "Thank you," but she sounded less than pleased.

This astonished Kunzite. He leaned in closer to her. "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry if I did. Your past self always enjoyed receiving compliments, so I just naturally assumed that you would as well."

She waved him off, but she still looked troubled. "It's no big deal. I guess I've become jaded over the years. People have been telling me that I am beautiful my whole life, but it's usually because they have an ulterior motive, men especially. I won my first beauty pageant at six months old. Politicians have always pushed their sons at me because my father is a diplomat. When I was acting people would buddy up to me hoping that I would help them break into the business. And then you have basic scum of the earth male that just wanted to try to sleep with me to earn another notch in their belt."

Kunzite's eyes widened. "But you're so young! Why would people try to take advantage of you like that?"

She shrugged. "That's just the way the world works in most cases nowadays. In a way, aren't you doing the same thing? You're trying to get on my good side so that I will agree to help return you to your body."

His expression grew angry. "That's not my reason for complimenting you at all! I never say anything that I don't mean! I said what I said because I truly believe it. If you think I'm only being polite in order to acquire your help, then it is probably for the best that you return me to my stone and leave me there. I'm not looking for charity and I'm not about to beg!"

Mina's blue eyes grew large in her face. "You really mean that, don't you? You're not trying to use me at all."

"No I'm not!" he growled. "I don't want to return to living if that means that you will be unhappy. Your happiness is the most important thing to me right now. It even ranks higher than making my prince happy. I know you may not feel for me like you did in the past, but I was hoping that we could at least become friends. If that is too much to ask, then tell me now and let me go."

One small tear trickled from her eye and trailed down her cheek. "Now that I've found you again, I can't let you go back to being in that prison. I am not your Minako, Kunzite, and I don't know where the future will take us, but I would like to try to be your friend if you will let me."

He met her gaze earnestly. "I would like that very much, Mina."

Suddenly she giggled and shook her head. "Wow! That was a deep moment. Time to move past the serious for now. There is still more shopping to be done. I need to go to the electronics store next. My MP3 player died on me the other day and I need to replace it. I can't live without my tunes."

That delightful, confused look was back on his face. "What is an MP3 player?"

She laughed joyously. "Just wait. I'm about to introduce you to the world of modern technology. I think you'll find that even more interesting than women's knickers."

He looked her up and down slowly. "I seriously doubt that."

She blushed again and turned away from him quickly. "Oh, come on you!"

* * *

"Absolutely fascinating," Nephrite murmured as he leaned over to inspect a pile of bright red apples. "I can never remember seeing this much food together in one place before, except for market days in the larger cities when the farmers and merchants would come in and sell their goods. And you say this place is open all the time?"

"Mm hmm," Lita hummed as she selected a few of the apples and put them in a plastic bag. She set the bag in her shopping cart. "It's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," she said quietly without moving her lips.

"Amazing!" he said reverently, and then followed her quietly as she made her way through the produce department, stopping here and there to pick out something she needed to restock her kitchen.

The next stop was the meat counter. There his eyes almost bugged out of his head at the sight of the rows of neatly cut and packaged meat. "They must have an army of butchers here to prepare so much meat!"

Lita stifled a laugh and looked around quickly to make sure that no one was nearby before she said, "Some of it comes already prepackaged from the factory, but most stores usually employ at least two or three meat cutters. Their jobs are made easier because machines do most of the work nowadays."

She left him pouring over a pack of t-bone steaks as she made her selections; some boneless chicken breasts, beef for a stir-fry, and a nice pork roast. She reached the seafood case and glanced over her shoulder to check on Nephrite before turning back to peruse the shrimp with a grin. He was still taking his time looking over all of the selections. She had never seen anybody, except Serena, be so enraptured by food. But she enjoyed eating it, not looking at it.

"Hey, Lita!" a young, brown haired man behind the counter called out to her. "How's it going?"

She smiled and waved. "Hey, Mike! I'm doing good. How about you?" She had been shopping in this store every Saturday morning like clockwork for over two years now and had become friendly with most of the staff.

He grinned back at her. "I can't complain. The baby finally started sleeping through the night this week, so Cassie and I have finally been able to catch up on some of the rest that we've been missing out on the last couple of months. I have some new pictures. Do you want to see them?"

Lita laughed. "Of course I do! That's a silly question."

Mike bustled around the glass case, holding a small stack of pictures in his hand. Lita went through them and oohed and ahhed over the pictures of the baby girl while she listened to the new father babble on about his daughter like she was the only baby in the world.

As she reached the last picture she became intensely aware of a presence standing at her shoulder. She looked up and was surprised to find Nephrite glaring daggers at Mike. He looked almost ready to kill the man.

She handed the pictures back to Mike. "Well she's an absolute sweetheart. I know you and Cassie must be so proud." Then she glanced at the seafood case and frowned. "Oh! I was hoping that you had some more of those salmon filets like you had last week. It was great."

Mike pocketed his pictures and smiled. "I think we might have a few left in the freezer in back. Did you want me to check?"

"Do you mind?" she asked hesitantly.

He waved a careless hand at her. "Nah! Not for my favorite customer. I'll be right back."

She made sure the man and everyone else was out of earshot before turning on Nephrite and hissing, "What is wrong with you?"

His face was hard and full of disapproval. "That man was flirting with you."

"Who? Mike?" she exclaimed in a whisper. "He was not! He has a wife and a small baby at home. Besides, he may not look it, but he's like ten years older than me."

Nephrite crossed his ghostly arms across his chest. "All the more reason why he shouldn't be turning his attention on you. Does the man have no respect for his wife and family?"

Lita huffed out a furious breath. "Look! I've known him for years and I know for a fact that he adores his wife and daughter. He just happens to be a friendly, outgoing guy."

"He was standing so close to you that his shoulder was touching yours," Nephrite growled.

"He was pointing out some things in the pictures to me," Lita insisted. Then her eyes widened in shock. "Are you jealous?"

He looked pointedly away. "No. I'm just concerned for your safety."

She snorted. "Yeah right! Concerned for my safety, my ass! I think you're well aware of the fact that I can take care of myself! Admit it! You're so jealous you could spit!"

He rounded on her and roared. "Fine! I'm jealous! Does that make you happy now? I'm jealous of the fact that he's real and I'm not! I hate that he can touch you and I can't! So go ahead and gloat, Jupiter! I'm sure you can't wait to run and tell your friends about how you beat me down!"

She ground her teeth together hard. "Just who the hell do you take me for? Even if Mike was interested in me that way and I returned the feelings I wouldn't do anything. I'm no homewrecker! And furthermore, _general_, I'm no gossip, so your precious reputation is safe!"

She felt like saying more, but the squealing of a cart's wheels had her looking up in time to see an elderly lady come around the corner of an aisle and head in her direction. She bit back the caustic words that were forming in her throat and turned away from the infuriating general.

Mike came through the swinging doors that lead to the back room. "Sorry, Lita, we must have sold that salmon after all. Was there anything else you needed today?"

She forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah, give me a pound of that shrimp down on the end."

The man chuckled and began gathering her order. "A whole pound, huh. Is Serena still trying to eat you out of house and home? You know, you're going to go broke someday if you keep feeding your friends like this."

She managed an answering laugh. "Yeah, I know. I'm just praying that my trust fund holds out until I get done with school. If I'm lucky I may still have enough of it left to open my own place."

He handed her the wrapped package. "Here's hoping, kid! I'll see you next week, Chef Lita." He turned to help the elderly lady.

Lita tossed the shrimp into her basket and pushed it quickly away down an aisle. She was aware the whole time of the green stone that was digging painfully into her palm inside her closed fist and the silent figure that followed her. She ignored him and continued her shopping.

Three aisles later he finally snapped. "Look, Lita, I'm sorry. I had no right to make assumptions. I just…"

She glared at him and made a cut off gesture with her hand. "I really don't want to hear your shit right now, Nephrite. In fact, the only thing keeping me from grinding your stone to dust under my heel is the fact that I want the pleasure of bashing your face in myself. And I can't do that until you're back inside your body."

He smirked just a little. "I take that to mean that you're going to help me."

An evil grin unfurled across her face. "I wouldn't sound so happy about that if I were you. This party hasn't even started yet."

An answering grin lifted his lips. "I look forward to it, Lightning Bug. Bring it on!"

* * *

A wistful sigh slid past translucent lips as ghostly fingers reached toward the spines of the books lining the shelves and passed right through them.

"So much advancement has occurred over the past millennium," Zoicite whispered. "I would probably never be able to catch up with the modern age."

Amy looked up from where she was taking notes out of a thick book. "Was there something that you wanted to look at, Zoicite?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "No. It would probably only confuse me further. I could spend months in here and barely be able to scratch the surface of the knowledge that is now available. I have been in many libraries before, but never have I seen anything as impressive as this."

Amy stifled a giggle behind her hand. They were in a secluded alcove in the science section of Tokyo University's library. "Yes, this library is quite extensive. I'm lucky to be able to come here to research and study. Since Tokyo General is the teaching hospital affiliated with the university's medical program and my mother is on staff there they allow me access to this library even though I am still in high school. It comes in handy when doing assignments for my advanced placement classes."

"Ah, I see," Zoicite murmured. "Is medicine your calling again in this life as well?"

She smiled ruefully. "Of course. I did entertain the thought for a while of becoming a teacher, but the lure of helping people is too strong inside of me. Medicine is more science now than it used to be, but there are some doctors that are beginning to embrace the natural herbal remedies that we employed in the past. I know Darien is hoping to be able to integrate both into his practice once he graduates, and I hope to do so as well."

The dark blonde general chuckled softly. "My prince a doctor. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. Endymion was always interested in the healing arts in the past. And of course the Golden Crystal gives him the ability to heal physical injuries in the blink of an eye. But he could hardly whip it out and start healing everyone. That would start a pandemonium."

Amy sniffed. "He couldn't do it period. Darien has only had the crystal in his possession for about a year, and half of that time he was technically dead. Unlike Endymion, who was trained his entire life in the ways of the crystal, Darien has had no instruction. And most memories of the Silver Millennium are very vague for all of us, so he can't really recall his past to help him. Helios graciously offered to train him, but who has the time with our crazy schedules. It has been a fight for Serena too. She has had the Silver Crystal for over two years, and she has learned to wield it successfully, but she has barely tapped into the potential of its powers."

Zoicite nodded, his wavy ponytail bobbing with the motion. "I can see where that could be a bit of a struggle. I have wondered though why the other generals and myself are having a hard time recalling all of the events of the past. We are not reincarnations as the rest of you are, so we should have no problems with our memories."

Concentration creased Amy's brow. "I have thought about that extensively many times, and the only explanation that I have been able to come up with is that Queen Serenity blocked our memories with the power of the Silver Crystal when she used it to seal Metallia and Beryl away and sent the rest of us here to be reincarnated. I think it was done to protect Serena and Darien's identities. I fought beside both of them for months while we were searching for the crystal and never realized who they were. I knew that I was looking for the moon princess, but I couldn't remember what she looked like. The good thing was that neither Beryl nor your evil counterparts could recall them clearly either. When the Silver Crystal was recovered we all received enough of our memories to remind us of our duties, but that was all. I get a few flashes of memory from time to time, but there are still large holes left unfilled."

"Hmm…" he mused. "That makes sense, I suppose. But why weren't your full memories returned to you once Metallia was destroyed? The prince and princess's identities are common knowledge to you now."

She shrugged. "I guess Queen Serenity thought it would be difficult for us to pursue our new lives if we were constantly bombarded by memories of the past."

"Or there is something that she simply doesn't want us to remember," he muttered.

"Are you becoming a conspiracy theorist, general?" she asked with a soft laugh.

He looked slightly abashed. "Hey, you know me. I look at things from all angles. Nothing is ever cut and dry. I have to dissect it and examine all aspects."

She shook her head. "Well you dissect. I have to finish this research for my bio-chem class. Here." She stood and pulled a book that had caught his attention several times and laid it on the table next to hers. "You can look at this while I get my work done. I'll turn the pages for you."

His ghostly eyes brightened. "Really!"

"As long as you give me some quiet and let me finish," she said firmly. "I have a feeling once we go see Serena and Darien tonight that we'll be busy for the rest of the weekend. So I have to get this done now."

"I'll be as quiet as a church mouse," Zoicite promised as he came to hover beside her. His eyes were already scanning the text of the book.

Amy watched him in amusement for a moment before she turned back to her work.

* * *

Raye cursed under her breath as an unexpected breeze blew up and scattered a flurry of sakura blossoms across the path that she was sweeping. She almost threw the broom down in disgust. This was like fighting a losing battle.

"So is this what you do all day?" a bored sounding voice drawled.

She shot a glare at the spirit that was nearby, watching her. "Do you spend all day annoying people to death?"

"Whoa! Not the glare of death!" he screeched, holding his hands up in front of him as if to ward off an attack. When his actions failed to get a reaction from the girl he sighed. "I didn't mean it like that, Raye. I just meant that I know that you like the quiet sanctuary of places like this, but I also know that you have an ambitious streak in you as well."

She leaned on the broom handle and looked at him. "No, I don't spend all day doing this. During the week I go to school and hang out with my friends. I really don't do much around here anymore since Chad came here and started helping grandpa. That leaves me time to pursue my own interests. It just happened that they are both away this weekend. I'm just glad that we're not busy."

She glanced around at the few people scattered around the grounds, strolling the paths between the trees. A nearby woman gave her a strange look before hurrying away in the opposite direction.

Jadeite chuckled. "I believe she thinks that you were talking to yourself."

She snorted. "I don't care! I already have a reputation for being strange so it doesn't matter."

He cocked his head. "Strange how? You seem perfectly normal to me."

She barked a laugh. "Ha! Of course I seem normal to you, weirdo! But most normal people don't understand the spiritual world. The unknown scares them so they try to avoid it…unless they want something. Then they come seeking me out like I'm their new best friend and beg me to read their futures. It's a real pain in the ass!"

"Ah ha!" Jadeite breathed. "Now we get to the real crux of the matter. You resent people for trying to take advantage of your abilities. Do you wish that you had been born without them?"

She shook her head. "No. I am proud of what I am able to do. Meditating in front of the fire has always been a comfort to me and my gift of sight has helped my friends and I out on many occasions. I just refuse to perform for people like a carnival fortuneteller. And I will not deny my power like my mother did."

He heard the underlying pain in her voice. " Your mother in this time was psychic too?"

She nodded slowly. "Not in the way that I am, of course, but she was extremely gifted. Her life could have turned out so differently, but she made that one mistake."

"And what mistake was that?" Jadeite asked softly.

The sound of his voice snapped her back to attention. "It's nothing. I shouldn't be telling you all of this anyway. Nobody wants to air their family secrets like dirty laundry."

"But I want to know," he insisted. "Please, Raye. I'm trying to figure you out. I feel like I know you, but at the same time I don't. You're the same as you were before, yet different too. Does that make sense?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not a lick of sense. Besides, what do you need to know about me for anyway? We have no future together. I may decide to help you return to the living, but after that you are free to do as you want. And I'm hoping you decide to go away and live your own life."

"You don't really mean that," he said confidently. Then he turned the full force of his puppy dog eyes on her. "Please, Raye. I would like very much to hear your story."

"Fine!" she grumbled and marched over to a sakura tree. She leaned the broom against it and then sat down. He joined her under the tree and looked at her expectantly.

"My mother was a very beautiful woman. She grew up here at this temple. My grandmother passed away at a young age and my grandfather raised my mother alone. They were all that each other had. Then one night she went with some friends to a party that was being held for a young man that was running for the senate. She caught his eye and they had a whirlwind romance. He asked her to marry him after only three months and she accepted."

"And this was your father," Jadeite asked.

She nodded and shifted in her seat, feeling the slide of the stone against her chest under her robes. She had gone into the workroom where her grandfather made custom made charms earlier, and under Jadeite's worried gaze had managed to fit the stone into a setting so that she could wear it around her neck and her hands could be free to do her chores.

"Anyway," she continued. "Mom was convinced that she was having a fairytale romance. They were married fairly quickly and it made headlines. I'm convinced by the timing that my father did it to score points with the voters. His popularity soared and he won the election by a landslide, but at home things had taken an ugly turn. Mom had not revealed any of her psychic abilities to him before, but as time went by he started to see it. Sometimes she would get up and walk to the phone to answer it before it rang. She went into a panic one night and sent the housekeeper home early, telling her that her husband was in danger. The woman went home and found her husband having a heart attack. He would have died if she hadn't gotten there when she did and called an ambulance. These stories are just a couple of the ones my grandfather has told me over the years."

Jadeite thought it over for a second. "I take it your father wasn't happy to discover that his new wife possessed otherworldly abilities."

"He was livid," Raye confirmed. "He forbade her to use her powers anymore, and she was so head over heels in love with him that she did as he said. Then I was born. I used to hide in the shadows when I was little and listen to the servants gossip. One time I overheard them talk about a time when I was a baby and sick with colic. They said that I was in my crib screaming and a stuffed animal burst into flames beside me. My mother got me out quickly, but I should have had at least some minor burns from the fire. I didn't even have one singed hair. I guess that was when my father started staying away from home more than he was there. I really don't remember seeing a whole lot of him when I was little. My mother was sad all of the time. She tried to hide it from me, but I could feel her pain. She cried into her pillow every night and I could hear it as if I were right next to her. But I never told her that I knew how sad she was because it would have only hurt her worse. That was when I started resenting my father."

Jadeite shook his head. "I don't blame you. It sounds like he's a real narrow-minded piece of work. So what happened next?"

Unshed tears sparkled in her violet eyes. "Mom got sick. She lay in bed wasting away more and more everyday, crying out in her sleep for that bastard. Oh he showed up for an hour or two here and there and played the loving husband, and mom had the best medical attention that money could buy, but it was an election year and his stupid campaigning was more important than trying to support his dying wife. The news painted him as being a tragic hero, standing tall in the face of heartbreak, but in reality he was a callous coward. I'm just grateful that my grandpa was there."

Jadeite reached toward her like he wanted to put an arm around her, and then sighed when he remembered that he couldn't. " So he took care of you?"

She nodded slowly. "He made sure that I was fed, bathed, and kept entertained. He would sit next to my mother for hours and I would listen to them tell stories from the past. And then when she died he offered to take me in and saved me from all of the gold diggers that suddenly sprang from the woodwork and offered to be my nanny. He brought me here to live and I've been here ever since."

"And your father agreed to that? What kind of man does that? How old were you?" Jadeite asked rapidly and in shock.

Raye almost laughed at his horrified expression. "I was ten when mom died. And father was more than grateful to not have to deal with me. I don't even share his name. That was the one thing my mother did right. She kept her maiden name when she married and then gave that name to me when I was born. He sends money to me every month and picked out my school, so I guess he feels like he's doing his duty. Of course he called me up a while back and raked me over the coals when he found out that he was losing that little bit of control over me. I'm transferring schools next year to be with Serena and the other girls and he doesn't like it. But I'm old enough to make my own decisions now."

He chuckled. "I guess you are. So I'm assuming that your parent's bad relationship is part of the reason why you're so against having me around."

She glared at him. "The fact that we have a bad history together doesn't help your chances either. Both experiences have taught me that blind devotion will eventually lead to nothing but heartache. So in all honesty I have no plans in mind for any personal relationships of any kind. I have dreams of my own that I want to fulfill, and I can do that on my own without a man. So if you're harboring any ideas that I will fall back into your arms again you can just forget it, buddy! It's not going to happen!"

Jadeite held up his hands in surrender. "Don't start yelling at me! I didn't say anything about you taking me back."

'Well good! Because I'm not going to take you back!" Raye screeched as she jumped to her feet and dusted off her robes. "In fact, if I were to decide that I wanted a man in my life, you would be at the very bottom of the list! Now if you will excuse me, I feel the need to meditate."

He grinned at her retreating figure as she stomped away. She could deny it all she wanted to, but there was still something between them. He could feel it, so he knew that she could too. He was just biding his time for now. It was best to try to stay on her good side as much as possible if he wanted a shot at getting back into his body. There would be plenty of time to make a move on the little firecracker once he was whole again.

She had almost reached the living quarters when he felt a tugging sensation and he knew that he had to follow her. Since she held possession of his soul stone there couldn't be a great amount of distance between them.

He followed after her and reached the living room just in time to see her pass through the door to the fire chamber and slide it shut behind. He could have easily passed right through the wall, be he decided to respect her need for privacy.

He took the opportunity to look around the home she had lived in for almost half of her life. It was easy to identify her grandfather's room. It was simple in its furnishings, just a simple sleeping mat and a small wicker chest of drawers. The room next to that obviously belonged to the man that worked there. It had an unmade twin bed and a dresser that had shirts and jeans spilling out of the open drawers. Posters of rock bands were tacked up on the walls and a pair of drumsticks were on a nightstand next to where a guitar was propped up.

He already knew what Raye's room looked like. It had a bed covered with a bright red comforter along with a desk, a dresser, and a pair of bookshelves that held her collection of books and cd's and a stereo. There was also a rectangular table in the center of the room where she and her friends could gather. A few posters from her favorite movies had been framed and neatly hung on the walls.

He glided back into the living room. This room was plain and uncluttered with functional furniture, but there were little touches that made it a home. Colorful blankets had been draped over the couch and recliner that were situated in front of an entertainment center and there were pictures on the mantle over the fireplace.

He studied these closely. Some were fairly recent and Raye's smiling face jumped out at him time and again. There she was with her grandfather standing in front of the shrine. Another showed Raye with her friends, dressed up like they were going to a party. They were all laughing and Raye had her arm wrapped fondly around Serena's waist.

Then there were some older pictures. In one she was sitting on a bike. In another she was knelt on the ground outside as she fed the crows, Phobos and Deimos from her hand. But there was a difference in these pictures. She didn't smile.

The most prominent picture was the one in the center of the mantle. In this one Raye looked to be about six and was hugging a dark haired woman. Jadeite knew immediately that this must be her mother. The woman had been a beauty. She had long, silky black hair, flawless porcelain skin, and midnight dark eyes that tilted just slightly at the corners. But there was a deep sadness in those compelling eyes just like Raye had in some of those other pictures.

The door to the fire room slid open, and he turned to see Raye standing there. Her eyes were dry, but slightly red like she had been crying. She looked at him hesitantly.

"Could you please come in and help me?" she asked softly. "I'm trying to do a reading and your presence is still interfering. I thought maybe you could help guide me.'

He was at her side in an instant. "Of course. Lead the way."

* * *

"Excuse me, people! Coming through!" Serena screeched at the top of her lungs as she raced at top speed down the crowded sidewalk. She was already running seriously late, and a collision with an unsuspecting pedestrian would only delay her that much longer.

One by one throughout the day the scouts had called her and asked to meet with her and Darien tonight, so they had set up a group meeting at his place, a meeting that was supposed to have started almost thirty minutes ago.

She would have never left Darien's apartment in the first place, she had been perfectly content lounging on his couch and wrapped in his arms, but her mother had called her right after lunch and reminded her of her Saturday chores that needed to be done. She'd tried to get her mom to let her put them off until tomorrow, but when Ilene had threatened to ground her from seeing Darien or going out with her friends for two weeks she'd hurried home to dust and vacuum her room, strip and remake her bed, and do her laundry. Unfortunately Sammy had gotten to the washing machine before she had, so she'd had to wait until he was done. It had also been her week to clean the bathroom that she shared with her brother and that had thrown her further behind.

She'd finally finished everything, and with a hurried, "I'll probably stay with the girls tonight!" she'd flown out the door.

'_Serena, where are you?' _Darien's strained voice echoed in her head.

She skidded around a corner and almost crashed into a boy on a skateboard. _'I'm almost there. Just give me a few more minutes.'_

_'Please hurry. They're making me nervous. They are all just sitting here being quiet. They said they don't want to say anything until you get here.'_

She turned onto his block and ran toward the tall apartment building. She spared a quick glance up toward the familiar balcony on the top floor and waved to the man she could see standing there. _'Okay, I'm here. I'll see you in a minute.'_

The doorman held the door open for her and she blew by him with a winded, "Thank you!" Luck was with her and the elevator had just opened up. She waited impatiently for the passengers to get off and then dashed inside, pounding the button marked 20 repeatedly until the doors closed.

She leaned against the wall and drew in several deep breaths. It had been a while since she had run like that. Obviously she was losing her edge. She used the reflective metal doors to check her reflection and smoothed down her ruffled hair before straightening her clothes. Her cheeks were bright red from her exertion, but there was nothing she could do about that.

The elevator dinged and the doors began to open. Before they were open all the way she found herself pulled into the hallway and wrapped tightly in a pair of arms.

"Thank god you're finally here," Darien muttered against her hair.

She pulled back just a little bit and laughed. "It's not that bad, is it?"

He rolled his eyes. "You have no idea. Amy and Zoicite seem to be on decent terms. At least they're not glaring at each other. Mina goes brick red every time she looks at Kunzite and looks like she's going to pass out. I heard her mutter the word thong under her breath once. I don't even want to know what that's about. Lita growls if Nephrite so much twitches an inch and I'm surprised that the whole building hasn't gone up in flames yet with the heat waves that are coming off of Raye."

Serena kissed his cheek. "Okay, okay. Let's get in there and see if we can figure out what's going on." She took him by the hand and led him toward his apartment.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence! What took you so long, Meatball Head?" Raye snapped before they even got through the door good.

"Gee Raye, it's nice to see you looking so bright and chipper. You must have found a small child to torment on the way here," Serena drawled dryly.

Raye stuck her tongue out at her and she quickly retaliated. Fearing that one of their infamous tongue wars was about to start, Lita quickly got up and jumped between them.

"Here, Serena, try one of these. It's a new recipe," she said and stuffed a cookie into her friend's mouth.

Serena dutifully chewed and swallowed, her eyes going wide at the rich taste. "Wow, Lita! That was really good. Of course everything you make is good."

"Yeah, yeah," Raye muttered. "We all know that Lita is a fantastic cook. We've known that for years. Now can we please get down to business?"

Serena leaned around Lita and wrinkled her nose at the priestess. "Chill, Pyro! What's got your panties in such a bunch?"

Mina let out a squeak at the word panties and slipped from her seat on the couch to land in a heap on the floor. She stared at Kunzite, who was standing across the room with the other generals, for several long seconds until blood rushed to her cheeks and she looked away. Amy gently tugged on her arm and pulled her back up beside her.

Raye ignored the theatrics. "I think you know very well what I have on my mind." She waved her hand toward the four specters.

Serena took a deep breath to compose herself. She walked the rest of the way into the room with Darien behind her and waited until he had taken his seat in his favorite chair and she'd perched on the arm beside him before saying calmly, "Okay, I'm waiting to hear what you have to say."

That knocked the wind out of Raye's sails. She glowered for a few more moments before going over and throwing herself down on Amy's other side. Lita shrugged before lowering herself into another chair sideways with her legs dangling over the arm.

Surprisingly, Amy was the first to speak up. "I've decided to help Zoicite. I don't think that it's fair that he continue to be punished for something that was beyond his control."

Mina nodded slowly. "I feel the same way."

Lita cracked her knuckles. "While I don't share their generous reasons, I've decided to give it a whirl too. Nephrite needs a good ass kicking, and I can't do that until he's solid."

All eyes turned to Raye, who grumbled, "I'll do it, but don't have to like it. I am not so petty as to deny someone a second chance, but I sincerely hope that certain someone decides to go get lost in the Amazon rainforest or the Bermuda Triangle or something like that."

Jadeite snickered from where he was standing in the corner. "It's nice to know that you care so much, Firefly."

The temperature in the room jumped at least ten degrees and the tea in the cup Raye was holding suddenly bubbled and boiled over.

Lita was back on her feet in a flash to take up for her friend. "Yo, Golden Boy! Didn't anyone ever tell you that if you play with fire you're going to get burned? Just who the hell do you think you are going around calling girls pet names? Didn't you get the hint that she wants you to get lost?"

Nephrite sighed deeply. "Lita…"

She rounded on him, her dark green eyes snapping. "I'm not speaking to you, remember? And I don't have any interest in anything you have to say. So you can just shove it up your ass!"

Mina seemed to snap out of the daze that she had been in. "Whoa! Everybody calm down! We don't have to turn this into a screaming match."

"My feelings exactly," Kunzite said smoothly, causing her to flush again.

Amy and Zoicite merely looked at each other and shrugged.

Meanwhile Serena and Darien watched the scene in a mixture of shock, concern, confusion, and a touch of amusement.

Serena leaned down to whisper to her boyfriend, "I know I don't remember a lot of stuff, but this feels familiar for some reason."

He chuckled in return. "I guess that means that things are going good. From what I can recall Jed and Neph were always good at pissing off Raye and Lita."

"So what do we do now?" she asked as she watched the stand off end and everyone seemed to settle down for now.

He tugged one of her pigtails and grinned. "We start making plans. I suppose you need to get in touch with Trista and I'll contact Helios. Now that we have everyone on board we don't want to make any mistakes."

She looked around at her four closest friends and the four, hopefully soon to be returned to the living, generals. No, they didn't need any mistakes to happen. Despite the fact that not all of the scouts seemed overjoyed with the situation they had found themselves in, she knew that they would be crushed if something went wrong and one of the guy's souls was lost forever.

* * *

The night was long. It was mentally draining. Sailor Pluto had come when called and explained in detail the process of returning the generals to their bodies. It was going to be a daunting task, requiring everyone to maintain tight control as they channeled their energy.

Helios had promised to spend time with Darien to teach him more about the Golden Crystal's abilities and how to use them, grumbling under his breath that it was about time that Darien had become interested in learning about his birthright.

Then the real planning had begun. In order for this scheme to work they were going to have to go back to where the drama with the Dark Kingdom had met its end. They would have to return to D-Point in the Arctic Circle. According to Sailor Pluto, the generals bodies were in a chamber somewhere deep within the ruins of Beryl's old base, frozen in perfect stasis.

Serena had shuddered at the thought of going back to the place that had starred in so many of her nightmares. True she had faced many other more powerful enemies since she had defeated Beryl and Metallia over two years before, but just the thought of returning to that cold stone fortress buried beneath the ice and snow was enough to freeze her blood.

She must have fallen asleep at some point amid all of the debating and planning because as she slowly came awake she found herself tucked into Darien's large bed with no memory of how she'd gotten there. She rolled over, expecting to find her dark haired prince sleeping peacefully beside her, but the soft gray light of the predawn morning showed her that the space beside her was empty. The covers were rumpled and there was a dent in the pillow where his head had been.

She slipped silently from the bed, shivering a little in the early morning chill, and pulled a throw blanket from the foot of the bed around her like a shawl. She padded down the hall in her sock feet, pausing only when she heard a yawn come from the living room.

"Amy," she heard Darien's voice say. "Why don't you try to get some more sleep? I don't think you dozed for more than about two hours earlier."

Amy laughed softly, "Like you got any more than that yourself? I'm fine. I learned how to run on little sleep a long time ago. It's a side effect of being an honor's student and a super hero at the same time. You should know what that's like."

Darien let out a low chuckle. "Yeah I do. Would you like me to pour you another cup of coffee?"

"Yes, please," she replied. "I'm just waiting for the latest satellite images to load."

Serena heard the soft thud of Darien's footsteps as he walked into the kitchen. Then Zoicite's quiet voice spoke up. "Amy, he's right. You really should try to rest. I don't want to see you wear yourself out over this. It's not good for you."

"That's really sweet of you to worry like that, Zoi. But honestly, I'm fine," Amy replied gently.

"It's borderline disgusting, isn't it?" a voice whispered in Serena's ear.

She bit back a scream as she whirled around to find a smirking Jadeite behind her. Nephrite was only a few feet behind him.

"You almost scared the living crap out of me, Jed!" she barely hissed through her teeth.

"Sorry, Sere. I saw you standing there and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up," he whispered back. But his voice lacked its normal level of mischievousness.

Nephrite didn't seem to be in a good mood either. He stood with his arms crossed and a dark glower on his face.

Serena knew instinctively that something was wrong between them and Raye and Lita. If the death glares that the girls had spent all evening shooting at them hadn't been enough of an indication, then the cutting, caustic remarks had been a dead giveaway.

She pointed toward the bedroom door. "Both of you, in there, now!" she ordered firmly but quietly.

They bowed their heads, but complied, gliding smoothly into the room without a word.

Serena followed them, closing the door securely behind them. She sat back on the bed with her legs curled under her and pulled the blanket tightly around her before pinning both generals with a serious look. "Okay guys, spill! What's going on?"

"Nothing," Nephrite replied. Jadeite merely bit his lip and looked away.

"Don't give me that crap!" Serena demanded. "I knew that Lita and Raye would be the two hardest nuts to crack, but I wasn't expecting this level of hostility between you. Something happened between you yesterday, and I want to know what."

Jadeite kept his silence, but Nephrite sighed. "You know how temperamental Jupiter can be. She got mad at me because I got jealous of this guy that I thought was flirting with her at the grocery store. I couldn't help myself. The man was standing so close to her and showing her pictures of his baby. When his arm brushed hers I lost it."

Serena dissolved into giggles. "Mike! You were jealous of Mike?"

"I'm glad you find it funny," he grumbled sourly.

She quickly choked back her laughter. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you, honestly. I guess I can see why you would be jealous. Mike is an extremely friendly and outgoing guy and he sees everyone as being a friend. The girls and I have known him for years and he treats us like little sisters. I promise he's no threat to you. He's madly in love with his wife and doesn't have eyes for anyone but her."

Nephrite shifted nervously. "Yeah, that's what Lita said. But once I calmed down and tried to apologize she cut me off. Now I can't even get her to listen to anything I have to say. And we were actually getting along up until that point."

Serena shook her head. "She'll get over it. You just have to let her stew a little bit until she gets past being mad. Then she'll bounce right back You'll see. Now you!" she swung her attention to Jadeite. "What's up between you and Raye? And don't try to give me that silent treatment, mister! I know something had to happen to get her into such a mood."

"I didn't do anything!" he muttered petulantly. "I was just standing around watching her sweep up around the shrine. Yeah, we were tossing a few smartass comments back and forth, but it was just for fun. I was curious about what her life had been like up until now and asked about it."

"Oh," Serena's mouth fell open in shock. "She told you about her parents, didn't she?"

He nodded. "I swear I played the good guy. I didn't say anything stupid. I just sat there and let her vent and tried to be supportive. But then she just went crazy and started yelling at me."

She nodded sympathetically. "Raye has some issues when it comes to men and relationships. I've only met her father once when he came by the shrine to try to force her to go to a fundraiser with him. That meeting definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't think he means to be a bad guy. He's just…"

"An asshole," Jadeite finished hotly. "What kind of man turns his back on his wife and daughter just because they happen to be a little different?"

"I don't know, Jed," Serena said sympathetically. "But I have faith that you can break through her emotional barriers. It just may take a little time. The good news is that both of you managed to talk the girls into returning you to your bodies. You'll have plenty of time to work on them once you're alive again."

The bedroom door cracked open and Darien's head poked in. "Hey! I thought I heard voices in here. What's going on?"

Serena smiled brightly at him. "I was just giving out a little womanly advice."

He adopted a look of mock horror. "Whatever she said, ignore it, guys! Serena is the last person you want to go to for advice."

"Don't be a jerk!" she snapped, but laughed at the same. She knew he was only joking with her.

"We'll just leave you two alone," Nephrite stated as Darien took a seat next to Serena.

Jadeite grinned broadly, seeming to be more like himself again. "Yeah, we understand that couples need _alone time_." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Get out of here, you depraved lunatic!" Darien growled.

"Ooo, talk about staking a claim," Jadeite cackled. "You know, Serena, if you find yourself becoming…disenchanted, with my prince you can always come to me. We blondes do know how to have the most fun."

"Out!" Darien practically bellowed.

"Boy, you never will learn how to keep that stupid mouth of yours shut, will you?" Nephrite muttered as he disappeared through the solid door. Jadeite followed him, still laughing.

"Is it too late to change my mind about bringing him back to life?" Darien moaned as he fell back on the bed. "I can handle Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoicite just fine, but Jed is a completely different story."

Serena giggled softly and stretched out next to him. "He is a riot. And it may not be such a bad thing to have some comic relief around here. I think some people may benefit from that."

"Serena," he groaned and rolled over to face her, propping his head up on his hand. "I hope you're not getting your hopes up about all of them becoming happy little couples again. They have a lot of issues between them and it may not work out."

"But Trista said that the guys are in the future with us as your guard," she insisted.

"Yes, she did," he replied slowly. "But she never said anything about my generals and your scouts being together, did she?"

Her brow wrinkled up as she thought back. "Well, no. But that doesn't mean that they're not together either. I just have to keep hoping that things will turn out okay."

Darien couldn't help but chuckle at her cheerful optimism. "Sure, you can always hope. That's what you are usually good at anyway." Then he got up and held out a hand to pull her up beside him. "Come on. I was coming to see if you were awake because Lita woke up a few minutes ago and crawled out of my recliner toward my kitchen mumbling something about cooking breakfast. And Trista said that she would be back this morning."

Serena discarded her blanket in favor of having Darien's warm arm around her as she walked with him into the living room.

Three of the four generals wandered around the room, trying very hard to look casual, and failing miserably. Their eyes kept straying toward the three girls at the breakfast bar that stood between the kitchen and the living room. Amy was sitting on the floor at the coffee table, looking as if she hadn't moved from that spot since the night before. Zoicite was hovering behind her, studying the screen of her computer over her shoulder.

"Morning, Serena!" Lita called out from where she stood on the kitchen side of the bar, setting a cup of tea in front of Raye and a mug of hot chocolate before Mina. "Cocoa?" she asked in a lighthearted voice.

"Sure," Serena replied as she wandered over to join them and slid onto the stool next to Mina.

"I'm telling you, Mina, it was really creepy, almost stalkerish," Raye was whispering rapidly. "You dozed off on the couch and he just sat there staring at you. If he were real he probably would have drowned in his own drool. It was nauseating."

"What are we talking about?" Serena whispered, leaning in close so she could hear.

Mina sniffed. "Raye seems to be a little put out that Kunzite looked at me while I was asleep last night. I think I detect a hint of jealousy."

Raye snorted. "Yeah, right! Keep dreaming, blondie! And he was doing more than just looking at you, he was completely entranced."

"Well I am the goddess of love," Mina quipped and flipped a strand of her blonde hair over her shoulder. She shot a quick glance over to where Kunzite was now deep in conversation with Darien, Nephrite, and Jadeite. Serena couldn't help but notice that the platinum haired general looked up in time to catch Mina's gaze and winked at her, causing her to blush.

"So what is up between you two?" Lita asked as she returned with Serena's cocoa.

"We're attempting to be friends," Mina muttered and looked down at her drink.

"Friends!" Raye huffed irritably. "Like I believe that one. You're as transparent as a sheet of glass, Mina. I give it a week, tops, after he gets back into his body and you'll be crawling all over him."

"He does seem to be a little unbalanced," Lita mused. "I got up to go out and get some fresh air last night and grumbled about having a wedgie and he fell out in hysterics. Then he had the nerve to ask me if I wore a thong. I probably would have laid him out if he was solid."

"I'm going to kill him," Mina growled, uncharacteristically harsh.

Serena giggled uncontrollably. "Why, Mina! Have you been educating Kunzite on modern women's underwear? Maybe you've been doing a little modeling for him."

"No I haven't!" Mina whisper-wailed. "Look, I'll tell you guys what happened, but it stays between us, okay." Then she told them the story about what had happened the day before in the department store.

Lita pounded the counter top as she howled. Raye almost lost her seat as she doubled over and laughed. Serena did fall to the floor as peals of laughter bubbled from her.

Mina buried her red, mortified face in her folded arms and moaned. "I knew I shouldn't tell any of you about it!"

Darien wandered over, looking mystified. "Did I miss out on a good joke?" he asked as he helped Serena up.

"You have no idea!" Raye choked out, sounding strangled. "Mina was just telling us…"

"I told you not to say anything!" Mina shrieked, her head shooting up as she lunged at the still laughing, raven haired girl.

Raye quickly whirled out of her reach. "I never promised not to talk. You spilled your guts on your own, Barbie! So what does he like best, black or white, lace or silk?"

"You're dead, Pyro!" Mina shrieked.

Lita leaned far over the counter and grabbed her furious friend. "Chill out, V-babe! She's just trying to push your buttons."

Darien leaned down to whisper in Serena's ear, "What did I miss?"

She looked up at him and grinned. "I'll tell you later," she promised.

"Damn! Damn, damn, damn!" Amy exclaimed suddenly.

The noise abruptly stopped and all eyes swung to the normally calm, quiet girl. It was rare to hear anything close to a swear word come out of her mouth. This meant that she had to be upset.

"What's wrong, Amy?" Serena asked in concern.

The blue haired girl closed her computer and shoved it away from her in disgust. "It's nothing. I was just hoping that satellite images would show me another way to get into Beryl's lair. But that place is almost impenetrable, one way in, one way out. It may be impossible to get in there if it has collapsed completely."

Serena was silent for a moment, remembering her frantic run through the underground caverns and tunnels as the entire place shook and rocks and rubble fell around her. She had been borderline hysterical at the time. Darien had just died in her arms and her friends had been killed as well. All she had been focused on was finding Beryl and destroying her.

"I don't really know how much of the place fell in," she said hesitantly. "We may be able to get back through there fairly easily. I was running so fast, and I didn't exactly stop and turn around to see what was going on behind me. It sounded bad, but even small noises echoed a lot down there."

She shivered at the memories that she had tried her best to suppress for so long; the pain of losing her friends, Beryl's maniacal laughter bouncing off of cold stone walls, Darien standing before her dressed in Endymion's armor, his eyes black and emotionless as he raised his sword above her head, and then him breathing one last breath only a few minutes later as she cried over him.

An arm wrapped around her shoulders and she jumped. Looking up at the man beside her she met his dark, dark eyes. They weren't the hideous black that she had just recalled in her horrid memories; instead they were a clear, beautiful, midnight blue.

"Are you okay?" Darien asked her in concern.

She managed a small smile. "I'm fine. I just got wrapped up in some old memories for a moment. Don't worry about it."

He nodded, but his expression was pensive. Serena figured he was probably remembering his own time spent in Beryl's cesspool of evil. She knew from recent conversations that he remembered at least part of the time he had been brainwashed by the witch, but it was a subject that she'd never really felt comfortable discussing. After all, what was in the past was in the past. There was no sense in bringing it up. Did it really matter if the love of her life actually remembered the time that he'd tried to kill her?

"Are you all right?" she asked him hesitantly.

He seemed to shake himself, and then grinned at her. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Well I guess we won't know what we're facing until we get there," Amy stated in a defeated sounding tone. "I hate going into anything blind though."

"So we'll wing it. You can't always have everything planned out to the tee," Lita said with a roll of her eyes. "We'll just deal with things as they come. Now breakfast is ready. Come and get it while it's hot."

Predictably, Serena squealed at the mention of food and dashed toward the kitchen. She also managed to almost bash into Sailor Pluto as she appeared suddenly in a poof of smoke and pink light.

"For Selene's sake, Trista! A little warning would be nice!" Serena screeched.

Pluto smiled indulgently. "My apologies. I thought I was expected. I did say that I would return this morning."

Serena shook her head and sighed. "Yes, you did. Well you made it just in time for breakfast. Why don't you join us?"

In just a few short minutes the six sailor scouts, plus Darien, were seated around the coffee table with plates of food. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Trista looked up at Amy.

"Don't worry about the path into the Dark Kingdom lair," she told her. "It's only partially blocked in a few places and the structure is sound. You should have no problem getting inside. Now are there any more questions? We really didn't get a chance to talk as much as I would have liked last night, but I had some issues to attend to at the time gate."

"I have a question," Darien spoke up as he reached for his coffee. "The guys and I were talking about this last night. What are they going to do if we are successful at returning them to their bodies? There is no royal army for them to command now and much of the modern world is still a mystery to them. And while I have a decent sized place here, I really don't need four roommates. How are they going to fit in?"

Trista's garnet eyes sparkled with humor. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Preparations for their reemergence have already been made. You guys just concentrate on what you have to do, and I promise that they will become model members of society. Trust me."

And that was all she would say on the subject. Breakfast was a long, drawn out affair as they talked about their upcoming mission. Almost two hours later their plans were set. In just six days, the next Saturday, they would make their way into the remains of Beryl's lair and do their best to return the general's to their bodies.

**A/N **It's finally going to happen! In the next chapter they will work their magic! Now since I've actually had a few people tell me that they have not read _Lunar Princess _yet, I will keep my mouth about the fate of the generals. But to those of you that are already in the know, I'm sure you can imagine the, ah…interesting things that will be coming up. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Drop me a review and tell me what you thought. Now I'm off to get some more typing done while I have the chance. Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	6. Down the Rabbit Hole Again

**A/N **I know, I know, this update is overdue. I'm sorry about that. I guess I hit a little bit of writer's block with this one for a while. But I finally worked it out. It's not my best, but I'm still pretty pleased with it. Also, for some reason _Rekindled _has been claiming a lot of my time. I've had to force myself to step away from it some and focus on my other stories. But enough out of me. Let me throw out my hugs and we'll get this story started. BIG HUGS TO:

**Seredhiel05**

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**gots2luv**

**GoldenDragon326**

**KageNoNeko**

**Jaguarsolaris**

**Chibi Kitt**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**sabina21**

**roswellachick**

**jade2nightwing**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**unlockurdestinty**

**anime-lover10**

**snoopykid**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**YingYing**

**Sacred-Gemini**

**chikisn2**

**houesi**

**lilcala**

**blk0912**

**Hikari Urania**

**samsox**

**Kaite**

**Angelstar14**

You guys are awesome as always! Now I'm going to let you get on with it.

_**ENJOY!**_

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 6

Down the Rabbit Hole Again

_The zombie crawled out of the grave; its gray and rotting flesh hanging loosely from its skeletal frame and its dead black eyes stared dully at the blonde girl on the ground as it started toward her. The girl stared back in wide-eyed fear for several long moments as it lumbered toward her. The zombie was almost on top of her when she let out a shriek and jumped to her feet. She began running, looking back over her shoulder every few seconds to see that the zombie was chasing her. She continued running, the moans and groans of the monster growing louder behind her as it closed the gap between them._

_Then the girl tripped over a tree root and fell. She rolled over just in time for the zombie to fall on top of her. It bared its broken yellow and black teeth and dove for her neck. There was a bloodcurdling scream, and then blood spurted everywhere._

"Ahhh!" three of the five girls in the room screamed and buried their faces in pillows. The other two just rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"Oh please!" Raye drawled. "You three can't seriously be scared by this crap, can you? It's so obviously fake."

"No doubt," Lita agreed. "For crying out loud, we've gone up against real monsters before. This is just some poor guy in bad make up."

Serena's head rose from its hiding spot. "I don't care if it is fake. I've always hated horror movies. They scare the bejeebers out of me."

Next to her Mina's blonde head and Amy's blue one nodded emphatically in agreement, although neither one of them uncovered their faces.

"You're such a baby!" Raye said before she stuck out her tongue and threw a handful of popcorn at her.

"Hey! No throwing food! If I have to bring out the vacuum cleaner when this movie fest is over I'm going to be pissed!" Darien scolded through the opening above the breakfast bar.

Mina's giggle was muffled in the pillow. "Wow! Is he OCD much or what?"

"You have no idea," Serena sighed as she scooped the popcorn off the carpet and dropped it into a wastepaper basket by one of the end tables. "He's almost as bad as my mom when it comes to cleaning. Even his closet is color coordinated."

Lita cocked her head to the side. "That's a little odd. If I didn't know him well I would say that it hints at a certain bit of fruitiness."

Amy's head flew up and her mouth dropped open in shock as she gasped, "Lita!"

Raye snickered evilly. "I bet he organizes his sock and underwear drawers too."

Mina fell over, hysterical laughter muffled in the pillow she still held to her face. "That's if he wears underwear at all. Some guys prefer to go commando!"

Raye and Lita both shrieked with laughter at her choked out words, and though Amy blushed and ducked her head, there was the tiny hint of a smile on her lips.

Serena sat there, red faced and mortified for several long seconds before she hissed, "Would you guys knock it off! He is just in the kitchen and he might hear you!"

When they continued laughing she got up and stomped toward the kitchen. She paid no attention to the room's occupants as she threw open the refrigerator and pulled out a Dr. Pepper. She downed the soda in less than ten gulps and threw the empty can into the trash.

"Whoa, Sere! Take it easy!" Andrew chided with a chuckle. "You'll be lucky if you don't explode from chugging down all that carbonation so quickly. If things are that bad I'll let you have one of the beers I brought over."

Darien choked on the beer he was sipping on and wheezed, "Absolutely not! I've seen what happens when you mix alcohol and Meatball Heads. Trust me, it's not a pretty picture."

Serena spun around and stuck her tongue out at him. Anger blazed in her bright blue eyes. "I can't believe that you would bring up either one of those times, you jerk! The first time I had no idea that the punch was spiked. The woman behind the refreshment table at the D-Land ball handed it to me and I drank it. I don't see what you're complaining about since you took advantage of the situation and got a kiss out of me, even if you didn't know at the time that it was me you were kissing. And the second time was because I was nervous about being with you at that get together your professor invited us to. I was thirsty and I sincerely thought that I was drinking juice."

Darien held up his hands to cut off her tirade. "Okay. Okay! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to set you off."

Jadeite snickered. "I guess she told you, Darien."

This brought a round of laughter from the rest of the generals as well from where they stood around the kitchen.

Everyone had been shocked when Andrew had shown up at Darien's apartment on Sunday morning just as they were finalizing their plans for this weekend and discovered that he could see the spectral generals as well. No one knew whether this was due to the fact that he was Darien's closest friend and knew about their secret lives or if it stemmed from some other ability. But to be on the safe side they had decided to stop the general's outings in the outside world just in case someone else was able to see them as well. And after almost a week of either being confined to Darien's apartment or the scout's homes whenever they were let out of their prisons they were getting antsy.

"I wish tomorrow would hurry up and get here," Kunzite growled. "All of this standing around and doing nothing is getting on my nerves."

"Tell me about it!" Nephrite grumbled. "These last days feel like they've dragged on forever."

Zoicite sighed and shook his head. "Just try to curb your impatience a little while long. In less than twelve hours we'll be on our way back to the living."

Darien saw Andrew shudder a little as the blonde ponytailed general spoke. Andrew and his fiancée, Rita had been involved in a run in with Beryl's evil Zoicite a couple of years before during the search for the Rainbow Crystals. He had accepted the fact that this Zoicite wasn't exactly the same man, but he was still a little leery of him. So Darien gave him a reassuring grin.

Serena smothered a yawn behind her hand. "I think I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep so I can be rested up for tomorrow. Of course I'll probably have nightmares after watching that hideous movie. Why in the world did you bring that one over, Drew?"

Andrew's hazel eyes widened innocently. "Hey! Raye and Lita said that they wanted to watch a cheesy, gory horror flick, and that was the cheesiest, bloodiest one I have. If I'd known that Darien was indulging in his feminine side tonight and hosting a slumber party for a bunch of teenage girls I would have raided Lizzy's stash of chick flicks instead."

Darien kicked the leg of Andrew's chair. "You don't have to make it sound so sordid! I am not hosting a slumber party. I'm just letting them stay here since we're planning on leaving before dawn in the morning. Anyway, all of them besides Lita lied to their families and told them that they were going up to the mountains for a little pre-exam R & R because we don't know how long we'll be gone and out of touch."

There was a scuffling at the bar as the other four girls appeared.

"Hey guys, we're going to turn in and get some shut eye," Lita told them.

"Yeah, we've definitely got to get some sleep if we're going to be worth a damn tomorrow," Raye commented.

Mina nodded. "I'm just glad that Darien has two spare bedrooms. It would be hard to get my beauty sleep if I had to sleep on the floor."

"Ditz," Raye grumbled as she walked away.

"Spaz," Lita agreed as she grabbed the blonde by the arm and hauled her away.

"Goodnight," Amy said demurely before she followed.

Andrew drained the last of his beer. "I guess I better get going too. I've got work in the morning. My parents have gotten to where they never come near the arcade anymore on the weekends unless they have to. But I want to wish you guys luck. I'd be right there with you if I could."

"I know you would, Drew," Serena said as she gave him a hug. "We'll see you when we get back. Be careful going home."

He gave her a wink. "It's only a few blocks. I'll be fine. You guys be careful too."

"We will," she promised him. She left the kitchen and wandered down the hall to Darien's bedroom where she crawled between the black silk sheets. Through the open door she could hear Darien seeing Andrew out and then him saying goodnight to the generals.

He appeared in the doorway a minute later carrying the box that he kept the general's soul stones in. He must have returned them to the stones for the night. He shut the door behind him and then walked over to set the box on his bedside table before he quickly traded his jeans for sweatpants and climbed into bed beside Serena.

She rolled over and snuggled up next to his side. "Are you nervous?" she asked softly.

Darien thought this over for a few seconds before he nodded. "Yeah. Are you?"

"I'm terrified," she confessed in a whisper.

He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. "What are you so afraid of?"

She wound her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm scared of a lot of things. We don't know what the morning will bring. I hate the thought of going back there, but I know it must be done if we have any hope of saving the generals. And then I think about what will happen if something goes wrong. We could lose one or all of them."

"You're stressing yourself out far too much," he said soothingly in her ear. "We have spent all week preparing for this. You have worked wonders with the Silver Crystal before. The girls are more focused than I've ever seen them. And thanks to Helios and Nephrite, I feel like I have enough control over the Golden Crystal to do what has to be done."

Serena sighed. "I'm sure you're right. But have you ever known me to not worry when we have something big coming up?"

He chuckled a little. "This is true." Then he leaned down to give her a short, but sweet kiss before wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Get to sleep, Sere. We're going to need all the energy we can get tomorrow."

She settled into his embrace. "Okay. I love you, Darien."

"I love you too."

* * *

They gathered at the park in the gloomy, misty hour before dawn. There were six of them; five teenage girls wearing bright colored, short-skirted sailor fukus, and one tall young man swathed in a black tuxedo and a cape. They congregated in a small clearing where they hoped to avoid too many prying eyes. But if anyone did see the light show that would accompany what they were about to do it shouldn't be that big of a deal. The residents of Tokyo had long ago acclimated themselves to things that weren't quite normal, especially when it came to their resident heroes.

The shortest one of the group shivered violently, setting her long blonde pigtails to quivering with the force of it. "Are we sure that it's May? It feels more like December out here right now."

Sailor Mars rolled her eyes. "If you think it's cold now, just wait until we get where we're going, Meatball Head. I'm sure you haven't forgotten our nice little walk in the ice and snow."

Sailor Moon threw back her head and shrieked, "Thanks a lot, Mars! I was trying very hard to not think about that part, but now I have the imagery stuck in my head of turning into a human popsicle. That's just great!"

Sailor Mercury shot an admonishing look at the red clad sailor scout. "Do try to be serious, Mars and stop picking on her. Besides, I don't think we'll have to walk nearly as far this time. Since we now know exactly where we need to go we should be able to teleport right to the entrance of the Dark Kingdom without having to take an arctic hike."

"That's great news!" Sailor Venus cheered. "Did you hear that, Sailor Moon? Now we won't feel like we're going to lose our fingers and toes to the frostbite monster."

Sailor Moon shivered again, but smiled brightly in relief. She was extremely grateful to not have to endure another long walk across that icy wasteland. It wasn't just because of the cold, but because she was pretty sure that she would be able to pinpoint the exact spots that each of her friends had died. It didn't matter if two and a half years of ice and snow had covered up the signs of the fights; she knew that she would be able to sense it.

"It will still be cold in that cave," she quipped in an attempt to sound lighthearted. "I always wondered why Beryl couldn't have set up her base in a better location. The Bahamas would have been a nice choice."

"Were Luna and Artemis okay about being left behind?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

Venus shrugged. "Eventually. Artemis grumbled a lot, but he got over it."

"The same with Luna," Sailor Moon said. "But in the end they realized that it was better for us to conserve our energy instead of trying to transport extra passengers with us. Taking Tuxedo Mask with us is no big deal because he's just hitching a ride. It won't put any extra strain on us because he will supply his own energy for the teleport."

Tuxedo Mask bumped her shoulder with his. "I'm just hitching a ride, huh?"

She giggled. "You know what I mean."

Mercury clicked her computer closed. "I guess we should get going. We're not going to accomplish anything by standing around here talking."

"Right!" everyone agreed, and they quickly formed a circle. The sailor scouts were on the outside while Tuxedo Mask stood in the center.

"Okay everybody, focus on our destination," Mercury told them. "If we do this right we should appear on the rim of that volcano right above the entrance to the cave. And be prepared for a little interference. There's a small amount of latent negative energy lingering around there, but it shouldn't cause us too much trouble."

Sailor Moon gripped Venus's hand tightly on one side and Mars's on the other and took a deep breath as she focused on the steaming volcano that she had crawled out of over two years ago. "Moon Crystal Power!" Silver energy sparked to life around her.

"Venus Crystal Power!" Warm orange engulfed Venus.

"Mars Crystal Power!" Burning red, tinged with flames surrounded Mars.

"Jupiter Crystal Power!" Jupiter's energy crackled to life in bright, electrically charged green.

"Mercury Crystal Power!" Mercury cried as light blue, icy light closed in around her.

Tuxedo Mask began glowing gold and he looked up to catch Sailor Moon's eye. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Sailor Moon's concentration broke as she gazed at her prince. This was it. She couldn't believe that they were actually going back to the scene of one of her worst nightmares. For a moment all of the memories of what happened there rushed through her head. The scouts had died. Darien was brainwashed and tried to kill her, his black, emotionless eyes boring into hers. She'd fought hard and gotten him back, but then Beryl attacked and he had protected her at the cost of his own life. She'd felt the life drain out of him with every drop of blood that had run from his body and onto the stone floor. He'd shuddered in her arms as he had taken his last breath.

The ground disappeared from under her feet and she realized at that moment that the teleport was unstable. She tried to pull her mind back to what she should be focusing on, but the memories continued to bombard her. She felt cold air rushing by and knew that they were almost there. She just had to hold on a few seconds longer.

But then negative energy hit her like a slap to the face and shook her to her core. It still carried a faint essence of Beryl. A vision of the red haired witch that had caused so much death and destruction in both of her lives flashed before her and her hands began slipping from her friend's. She felt them try to hold onto her, but then it felt like something jerked her away from them.

She felt like she was being sucked through a black void, and then she slammed into something hard. She lay still, panting for breath for several seconds before she pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around.

A cold chill gripped her body. She had arrived in the Dark Kingdom all right, but she had appeared in the one place that she had been hoping to avoid at all costs, Beryl's throne room. And there, only a few feet from her on the cold stone floor, was a large stain that had turned black with age. It was the spot where Darien had bled to death in her arms.

She looked around with tear-blurred eyes as she realized one more important fact.

She was completely alone.

* * *

There was a flash of light at the edge of the arctic volcano as the rest of the sailor scouts and Tuxedo Mask appeared. They all stumbled from the unsteady landing, and Tuxedo Mask actually fell to his knees.

"Serena!" he yelled.

"Mercury, what happened?" Venus demanded.

The blue haired scout already had her computer out and was typing furiously away. "I'm not sure, but I think that something interfered with Sailor Moon's concentration. The teleport was unstable from the very beginning. She tried to pull it together, but the negative energy here hit her hard."

"Well put that genius computer of yours to work and find her!" Mars snapped, worry coloring her words.

Jupiter crossed her arms and tapped her foot, a sure sign that she was upset. "She was with us until just a second ago, so she can't be too far away."

Tuxedo Mask heard the jabbering going on around him, but he ignored it for the most part as he concentrated on searching for Serena's silver aura. The dark energy was muddling his senses, but he pressed on, desperate to find her. He had felt her fear and uncertainty just before the teleport happened, but it had been too late to stop it. He had tried to reach out and grab a hold of her when she had begun falling away from them, but she had slipped right through his fingers.

His head began pounding from the amount of concentration he was using, but he continued, sweeping out with his aura to try to find her. Then finally, he felt it. It was faint and it was fleeting, but it was there; the tiniest little spark of silver coming from somewhere below them.

The next thing he knew he was sliding down the slippery side of the volcano to the ledge twenty feet below and the entrance to the cave. He ran inside and found it exactly as Sailor Pluto said. The passageway was only partially blocked. There was a few feet of clearance between the rubble of the cave in and the ceiling. That was more than enough room for him to get through.

He heard his name being called, but he didn't stop. He began crawling up the pile, slipping and sliding on loose rocks. It wasn't until hands grabbed his arms and hauled him back down that he acknowledged the others.

"Let me go!" he yelled at Venus and Jupiter, who were holding on to him. "She's here! I can feel her!"

"Darien! Calm down for just a damn second!" Mars barked harshly. "If you go tearing in here like a madman you could bring the whole place crashing down on us. Pluto said that it was stable, but that doesn't mean you can go barreling in here like a bulldozer!"

He knew she was right, so he sucked in several deep breaths and tried to bring his rampaging emotions under control. Then he narrowed his eyes on the four girls that were watching him cautiously. "Okay. What do you ladies suggest?"

Venus let go of his arm and stuck her hand out. Her eyes glittered dangerously. "First off, I think you should turn the guy's stones over to us just in case you do something stupid like get yourself smushed under a ton of rocks. We may not be able to bring them back without you, but at least they won't be totally lost."

"Fine!" he grumbled and pulled the small wooden box out from a secret pocket in his cape. He opened the lid and offered it to them.

Each scout took the stone that belonged to their general and the four ghostly men appeared, looking disoriented for a moment until they got their bearings.

Kunzite looked like he was doing a mental head count and then frowned. "Where is the princess?"

"We got separated during the teleport," Venus told him softly. "She's here though. We just have to go find her."

Mercury's eyes darted across her computer screen. "It looks like this is the worst of the cave in. If we proceed _carefully_," she shot Tuxedo Mask a look, "we shouldn't have any trouble. My computer will be able to lead us straight to Serena."

"I don't need a damn computer!" Tuxedo Mask growled. "I can find her just as well without it. So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He started cautiously up the rockslide this time.

The scouts all followed him just as carefully and the generals all shrugged before merely passing through the rock.

Once on the other side they found themselves faced with a wide tunnel that stretched out before them as far as they could see. Nobody said a word; they just began walking…and walking and walking and walking.

"Good grief! How far does this thing go?" Mars grouched after about twenty minutes. They had twisted and turned a couple of times and had seen two tunnels that branched off from the main one, but each time Tuxedo Mask had pointed them in the right direction before Mercury could.

"From what hazy memories I recall, it goes pretty deep," the masked hero replied absently. He was trying to keep all of his attention on tracking down Serena. He knew he had to be getting closer because the negative energy wasn't interfering as much as it was before. With every step he took her presence became clearer and clearer in his mind. He could feel fear and sadness coming from her through their bond and he was almost running now in his haste to find her. He had tried to contact her telepathically, but every time all he received was silence.

'_Damn it, Serena! Where are you?' _he called out mentally for the umpteenth time.

* * *

"Geez, Serena, get over this!" Sailor Moon fussed at herself as she scrubbed at her wet eyes. "Sitting here and blubbering over something that happened so long ago is not going to make things any better. Now get up off of your ass and try to do something useful."

She pushed herself up off of her knees to her feet, feeling like an emotional idiot for giving in to her tears and the memories of that hellish day over two years ago. Why should she sit here and cry over the spot where her beloved had died when he was alive and well and definitely not brainwashed?

"You're stronger than this, Serena!" she continued with her pep talk to herself. "Raye would have a field day with this if she knew what a spaz you've been. And how are you going to convince Darien that you're grown up if you keep acting like an infant?"

Those words did wonders for her motivation and she turned away from the old bloodstain on the floor with fierce determination burning in her eyes. She tried to sense Darien and the scouts' auras, but all she got was a feeling of muddy colors. The dark energy was very strong in this area and it dampened her ability to sense them.

There was a door on each side of the chamber, and she went to the door on her left first since it was closer to her. A set of stairs led down and she descended them to see where they led. In all actuality she couldn't remember if she had gone down any stairs the day that she had fled this place, the memories were too muddled up in her head, so this could be the way out.

She had decided that she would try to find the way that led toward the exit. If the others had reached their original destination then she would probably run into them at some point. Then they could continue on with their mission.

She saw a light shining at the bottom of the stairs that was brighter than the dull glow that seemed to radiate from the stone walls of the rest of the lair and she headed for it. She gasped moments later when she stepped into a large room to find four casket-like crystals set in a circular formation around a dark, glowing orb.

For a moment they reminded her of the giant quartz monument that she had seen her future self sealed inside of when she had traveled to Crystal Tokyo two years before. They just weren't quite as big or as ornate as the crystal that had imprisoned Neo Queen Serenity.

The crystal closest to her was a deep blood red. And as she studied it closely she realized that there was indeed someone inside of it. She squinted her eyes until she could make out Jadeite's messy golden curls. There was also a green crystal, a light blue one, and one of bright orange.

Excitement flowed through her. She had found the generals' bodies. Now all she had to do was locate everyone else and get them down here and they would hopefully be able to bring them back to life.

She whirled and ran back up the stairs and then flew across Beryl's throne room to the other door, not even giving the sadness of that room a chance to affect her this time. She threw open the door and entered a long corridor.

She paused for a moment and concentrated really hard on being able to sense the others. A muted gold aura flared to life to her right and she raced in that direction, calling mentally as she ran, _'Darien…Darien!'_

After a minute or two she was rewarded with a response. _'Serena!'_

'_Darien!' _she silently squealed. _'I knew you had to be around here somewhere.'_

'_Thank god!' _he replied. _'I've been worried sick! Where are you?'_

'_I'm running down a corridor following your presence,' _she told him. _'I think we must be getting closer because you're really starting to come in clearer.'_

'_Yeah, you too,' _he answered. _'You just keep heading in this direction and I'll…'_

Sailor Moon rounded a curve in the passageway and collided with something hard. She heard an "Oof" at the same time the breath rushed from her lungs, and then she was falling. The next thing she knew she was laying on top of somebody.

After a minute a chuckle rumbled under her ear. "Just like old times. Huh, Meatball Head?"

"Jerk!" she muttered out of old habit as she pushed herself up to look down into her boyfriend's laughing blue eyes. The fall had knocked his mask off so she could see them perfectly. She grinned goofily at him for a moment before lowering her head and brushing his lips with hers.

"Ugh! Get a room you two!" Mars growled. "Nobody wants to witness you guys swapping spit!"

"Eww! Do you have to make it sound so gross, Mars?" Venus complained. "Kissing is a very natural and beautiful way to express love."

"I'm going to express something to you with my fists in about two seconds if you don't can it, Barbie!" Jupiter grumbled.

Venus shrieked and ducked behind Mercury. "Amy! Save me! Raye and Lita are being mean!"

The blue haired scout ignored the theatrics as she typed on her computer. She flicked an earring and her visor appeared across her eyes. "Now that we're all back together perhaps now we can concentrate on locating where in this massive place the generals' bodies are."

"I know where they are! I found them!" Sailor Moon squealed as she scrambled off of Tuxedo Mask.

"You found them?" Mars sneered skeptically.

Sailor Moon stood up and dusted off her fuku. "Yes I did, Pyro. You don't have to sound so surprised about that. In case you haven't realized it, I'm not completely helpless. I landed in Beryl's throne room and found a chamber under it when I was trying to find the way out. All four of them are down there locked inside giant crystals."

"Beryl's throne room," Tuxedo Mask snarled as he pulled her against him. He ran his gloved fingers over the dried tear tracks on her face and took in her reddened eyes. "So that's why you've been crying."

She pulled away with a nervous giggle. "It wasn't really that, Darien. I was just scared when I found myself alone and I was afraid that my goofing up the teleport might have sent you guys spinning off someplace else."

He took her chin in his fingers and forced her eyes up to his. "You can't lie to me, Serena," he said softly. "I may not have been able to sense you clearly, but I could tell that you were upset. Was it that bad?"

She pushed his hand away gently and clenched her jaw in determination. "So I had one moment of weakness. I got over it. Now I'm just ready to get this show on the road so we can get back home."

"Finally!" Jadeite exclaimed. Up until now all of the generals had been quiet and watchful. "I'm ready to get back into my body now, please. I want to breathe again. I want to be able to smell, taste, and touch." He raised a suggestive eyebrow at Mars.

A feral growl rumbled in Mars's chest. "Boy, if you even think about smelling, tasting, or touching me I swear I will charbroil your ass before you can say barbeque!"

"Barbeque!" he blurted, and then cackled.

"Shut up, fire breather, before you mess everything up!" Nephrite bellowed.

Kunzite sighed wearily. "I can't wait until we're solid again so I can bust some heads."

Beside him, Zoicite nodded in agreement.

"So I'm assuming we go back the way you came, Serena," Mercury commented.

Sailor Moon nodded. "Yeah. It'll take a little bit to get there. It's pretty far in and there are a couple of other passageways that branch off, but I can find it again."

Jupiter pounded a fist in her palm. "Well let's get to it then."

* * *

The door to Beryl's throne room creaked loudly when they entered. Sailor Moon shivered and gripped Tuxedo Mask's arm tightly as they stepped inside. Wanting to get past this part as quickly as possible, she headed toward the door on the far side of the room, taking Tuxedo Mask with her.

She had been worried about him for the last several minutes. It seemed that the further that they had come, the more pensive he became. He had been muttering things under his breath like, "This is so familiar," and "I remember this place."

When they had reached the first passageway that broke away from the main one he had shook his head and said, "Not that way. That was where she kept the youma." And when they reached the second corridor he'd stated coldly, "That was where the sleeping chambers were."

Sailor Moon had latched on to him and began babbling away, trying to draw him out of this funk that he had fallen into. But he had remained withdrawn as he reflected on the cloudy memories he had of the time he had spent here while under Beryl's control.

"Come on, Darien," she insisted, pulling on his arm when he stopped halfway across the chamber. If he took the time to stop and look around it would bring back even more painful memories, and she wanted to spare him that.

But he jerked his arm away and strode away from her, toward where the ominous stain was on the floor. But he stopped several feet away from it and seemed to be staring off into space.

Sailor Moon sighed and shot a quick glance at the others who were watching Tuxedo Mask warily, like he had lost his marbles. She had only ever given her scouts a brief, condensed version of what had happened on the day that she had faced Beryl. All she said was that she had fought the evil Prince Endymion for a short while before she broke through the brainwashing and returned Darien back to his normal self and then Beryl had attacked and killed Darien. She had never revealed to them the brutal horrors of what had happened in this room.

She approached him slowly and went to stand in front of him. He was looking down at the ground now and she reached out to cup his cheek. "Darien?"

His head rose and she was met by tortured, troubled, dark blue eyes. She could feel pain, anger, and disgust coming off of him in waves.

"This is where I almost killed you," he said flatly.

She nodded. "Yes."

He trailed his fingers down her neck, remembering how he had clamped his hand around that pale, fragile skin as he had lifted her off the floor and shocked her repeatedly with dark energy. Her screams echoed in his head.

"Why didn't you fight me back that day?" he asked softly. "You could have beaten me. I know you could have. But instead you let me bash you around like a punching bag."

Tears stung her eyes. "Because I couldn't find it in myself to fight you. I didn't care if you had been brainwashed, I knew I could never bring myself to kill you. I was trying to save you. I knew the real you was still inside. I just had to find a way to reach you."

She pulled away from him and took several steps closer to the spot where he had died. "I think we were right about here. You were holding your sword above me, and I did this."

She went down on her knees and reached a hand into a small hidden pocket of her skirt and pulled out the star locket that Serenity had given Endymion a thousand years before. She pressed a button and the top snapped open as their song began playing. She held it out to him.

The shadows disappeared from his eyes and a little smile even appeared on his lips as he walked toward her. "Yeah you did." He reached out and brushed his fingers over the gold star. "And as soon as I touched it I remembered everything."

He sank to his knees in front of her and swept her bangs back in a tender gesture. "I can't believe you brought the locket with you."

She giggled a little shakily. "I just had this feeling that I might need it."

"Thank you," he said softly. "I've been worried for days about how coming here would affect you, and now here you are having to calm me down. Who'd have thought?"

"Oh, I'm not as calm as you may think I am," she whispered, her eyes sliding toward the nearby bloodstain.

He took her face in his hands and kissed away a tear that had escaped her eye to roll down her cheek. "Hey, enough of this," he told her. "We're both here and alive."

"Yeah, you're both alive," Jadeite drawled. "There are some of us that would like to be alive too. So if you two are done having your touching little moment, can we please get down to business?"

Sailor Moon sniffled and then giggled. "Nag, nag, nag…is that all you ever do, Jed? You might want to rethink this whole idea of returning to your body. Raye can't set you on fire as long as you're a ghost."

"Nah, I'll take my chances," he said flippantly. "Besides, she's not the only one that can handle fire."

"Humph! We'll just see about that!" Mars huffed and stomped toward the stairs that led down. The other scouts and the generals followed her.

"I guess we better get to it," Tuxedo Mask said as he stood and helped Sailor Moon up. "Are you sure you're ready for this."

She shrugged. "As ready as I'm ever going to be. We've come too far to give up now."

The joined the others in the chamber below where they found them all staring in amazement at the four crystal tombs.

"I don't believe this," Mercury mumbled, her visor in place as her eyes darted around the room taking everything in. "I know Pluto said that they were sealed away down here, but this is unreal."

"You know what I don't get?" Jupiter spoke up. "We never saw Jadeite or Zoicite die, so it's logical that their bodies could be here. But we saw both Nephrite and Kunzite disappear into nothing right before our eyes. So if their bodies crumbled into nothing then how are they here?"

"Beryl's magic more than likely," Mars grumbled. "I'm sure the last thing she wanted was to lose those bodies. We just took it for granted that they disappeared, but it really may have been some kind of teleportation that sent their bodies here when they died. Knowing that sick freak she probably planned on reviving them again if she managed to get a hold of the Silver Crystal."

"That makes sense," Venus murmured. "There's no telling what kind of twisted schemes she had up her sleeve for if she had actually won."

The generals had all floated over to inspect their bodies through the crystals.

"They appear to be perfectly preserved," Zoicite mused.

Kunzite and Nephrite remained silent, but nodded their agreement.

"Damn! I still look good!" Jadeite preened. "I was afraid I was going to find my body all beat up after listening to you girls talk."

"I can take care of that for you," Mars said snidely and snapped her fingers. A ball of fire appeared in her palm.

"Easy there, Pyro!" Sailor Moon said with a laugh. "Let him get back into the body before you start torturing him."

"I guess I'm up first," Tuxedo Mask said as he stepped up between Kunzite and Jadeite's lifeless bodies.

Sailor Moon grasped his sleeve and then stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Good luck, and be careful."

He smiled her favorite crooked smile. "You too."

She backed away from him and told the scouts, "Get into position and be ready. If this goes off as easily as I'm hoping, we'll be ready to head home in ten minutes."

"And when does anything go as easy as we want it too?" Jupiter grumbled.

Venus shrilled, "Don't jinx us, Lita!"

"Yeah! Don't jinx us!" the four ghostly generals cried together.

Sailor Moon took her spot between the bodies of Nephrite and Zoicite, directly across from Tuxedo Mask while each of the scouts stood at the head of their generals crystal casket. "All right, let's do this."

In a flash of gold light, Tuxedo Mask transformed into Prince Endymion as he began gathering the power of the Golden Crystal. He closed his eyes in concentration. Several seconds later loud cracks echoed through the chamber as the giant crystals split in half and fell apart, leaving the dead generals lying on stone slabs.

"Well, that was part one," he said jokingly.

Next he focused on locating the bodies with his energy. That was easy enough to do since they exuded no auras. He focused on the black, empty voids one at a time and channeled his golden power into them slowly. He had done something similar to this once before to save Rini when her pure heart crystal had been swallowed by Mistress 9. But that had been more of a sharing of life force rather than actually resuscitating dead bodies and he hadn't had possession of the Golden Crystal at that time either.

No, this was definitely more intense. He concentrated on the body he sensed to his right, Kunzite, and used the power that he had fed into the body to send a jolt into the heart and lungs. He heard Venus gasp a split second after he heard the first thud of a heartbeat and the hiss of expanding lungs. He kept part of his mind focused on keeping Kunzite's body going as he did the same to each of the generals.

When he had all four hearts beating and the bodies breathing he grated out, "Hurry, Serena! I don't know how long I can hold this." He saw a white flash behind his eyelids and felt the rush through their bond that always accompanied Serenity's arrival.

Princess Serenity held the Silver Crystal before her. "Okay girls, be ready. The moment this curse is broken their souls will try to spiral away. You will have to use your planetary energy to draw them back into their bodies."

Kunzite looked at Venus, who was chewing her lip nervously. "Don't worry, Mina. I trust you."

She gripped the stone in her hand tightly. "I know. I just hope I don't let you down."

"You won't," he said quietly and faded away as she set the stone down on the slab next to his head.

"I'll be ready for that ass kicking in just a minute," Nephrite joked to Jupiter.

She grinned at him as she set his stone down. "I'm ready for you."

"Don't say a word!" Mars snapped as Jadeite opened his mouth. If you do I swear I'll do something weird like put you in Zoicite's body!"

Both Jadeite and Zoicite whimpered at this proclamation and Mercury hastened to reassure Zoicite.

"I won't let her do it," she promised him softly.

Then the last two spectral generals disappeared as their stones were placed next to their bodies.

"Now to deal with this curse," Serenity said as she fixed gaze on the dark swirling orb floating in the center. "Moon Crystal Power!"

A beam of silver light shot from the Silver Crystal and it hit the orb. It reacted violently, seeming to almost swell as tendrils of crackling energy erupted from it in retaliation of the attack of pure power.

"Oh, you are a nasty little bugger, aren't you?" Serenity growled as she poured on just a little more power.

The dark energy lost its orb shape, twisting and writhing like a living thing as it fought against the barrage of Silver Crystal energy. The struggle between light and dark went on for what felt like an eternity before the dark energy seemed to collapse in on itself and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Simultaneously the four soul stones shattered and a bright speck of light flew from each one. The sailor scouts immediately flung out their planetary energy and latched onto the souls that were attempting to fly away.

* * *

Venus gasped as she felt something tug, almost painfully, deep in the pit of her stomach. Being the scout of love she knew what this meant. Kunzite and Minako's souls had been bound deeply together. And since her soul and Minako's were the same it could feel its soul mate attempting to leave the plane of the living. This little twinge she felt was nothing compared to the searing pain she would experience if his soul were lost forever.

Most people had considered Kunzite to be a cold and calculating man. His ruthlessness on the battlefield and his devotion to the royal family that he had protected had been well known throughout the galaxy during the Silver Millennium. But there had been another side to the seemingly infallible man, a side that very few people had ever been able to see.

One would expect the aura of such a man to be as cold and hard as steel, but as Venus carefully wrapped ribbons of her Venusian energy around his soul she felt the real him. His aura was surprisingly soft. It was the swirling blue, green, and gold of the Earth, but intertwined with it was the warm orange glow of Venus. It made her think of sitting on green grass under a blue, sun filled sky on a summer day.

She could have sworn she felt a gentle breeze blow across her face as she heard his voice whisper. "I believe in you, Mina."

Slowly, but surely, she began reeling that speck of orange light in toward Kunzite's body, being careful to keep her energy wrapped securely around it so that there was no avenue of escape. She began feeling a little drained, but held on tightly.

Finally the tiny piece of light sank into Kunzite's chest and disappeared. She felt the snap of Endymion's golden power as he released his control of the body. She rapidly pulled her own, orange energy back into her body.

Winded, she slumped to her knees beside the stone platform and closed her eyes as she rested her head against it. She jumped in surprise several moments later when she felt a hand settle on top of her head to stroke her hair. Her wide blue eyes flew up to meet a pair of light, silvery gray ones.

"Kunzite," she whispered.

* * *

"Oh! So you want to start fighting me already, huh?" Jupiter growled as she looped more of her crackling green energy around Nephrite's soul and pulled hard.

She heard his chuckle echo inside her head and couldn't stop a smirk from twisting up her lips. "You are so getting fried for this once I manage to wrangle you back into this body!"

"Now, lightning bug, where would the fun be if this wasn't at least a tiny bit challenging?" she heard his voice say faintly.

"I'll show you challenging!" she muttered and redoubled her efforts to rein him in.

It was like a long, drawn out game of tug of war. She kept the pressure steady to keep the soul from getting any further away and interspersed it with giant backwards heaves. She'd take a moment to take in a few deep breaths and then repeat the process. Each time the glowing soul moved a few inches closer to its body.

By the time it was barely a foot away her muscles were trembling like she had been through a physically strenuous workout. With a snarled, "I'm tired of dealing with this bullshit!" she pulled as hard as she could and the soul hit Nephrite in the chest before disappearing.

The backlash of both her and Endymion's powers releasing their hold sent her stumbling back where she landed on the ground hard on her butt. She rested there for a moment with her arm resting on her pulled up knee, until she heard the mischievous chuckle.

She glared up at the man that was now sitting up on the stone slab and growled, "You are so lucky that I am tired right now, or I'd knock that shit eating grin right off your face!"

Slate blue eyes twinkled merrily at her. "Is the great Jupiter seriously backing down from a fight? I thought I was promised an ass kicking the moment I was alive again."

"I don't back down from anything!" she said heatedly and jumped to her feet. She sent her balled up fist sailing toward his smirking face…and found it trapped inside a large hand a second later.

Nephrite laughed. "Damn! It's good to be back!"

* * *

"Hey! Take it easy!" Jadeite's bodiless voice cried. "That's my soul and it is fragile!"

"The only thing fragile about you is your questionable manhood!" Mars sneered as she yanked back as hard as she could with her power and drew the twinkling soul several inches closer to the body before her.

"Hey!" the phantom voice complained. "I happen to be all man, thank you very much! Not just anyone can become a general in the royal army you know."

Mars gritted her teeth and yanked again. "Then stop whining like a little girl and suck it up like a real man then!" Her power flared bright red in response to her agitation.

"Okay, okay!" his voice said quickly. "Sheesh! You're still just as moody and temperamental as you always were."

"Would you like me to just let you go? I can do that you know!" she ground out.

"No, no!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to shut up now. You do what you've got to do." He went silent.

"Finally," Mars mumbled and poured all of her concentration into trying to pull his soul back into his body as quickly as possible. She wanted this done and over with already so she could forget about it.

She knew that she was expending far more energy than she should, but she didn't care. She threw everything she could into it and with a couple of more hard pulls the soul slammed into Jadeite's chest.

His body jolted and the golden energy around it shattered. Bright blue eyes flew open with a wondering look.

Mars turned away from him, wavering a little in her exhaustion. She felt hot hands on her shoulders and jerked away with a hiss. "Don't touch me! Not unless you would like me to separate your hands from the rest of your body!"

"Too bad, Firefly!" an amused voice whispered in her ear right before she found herself engulfed in a giant bear hug.

* * *

"Oh! Why did I think I could do this?" Mercury cried softly. "My biggest strength has always been my brain, not my actual power."

"You're doing fine. I'm almost there. Just a little bit more," Zoicite's voice coaxed her gently from where his soul hovered just a few inches above his chest.

She didn't know how long she had been struggling to return Zoicite's soul to his body, but it felt like it had been hours. And while she had made commendable progress, it seemed the end was still as far away as it had been when she had begun. Every time she managed to move the soul two inches closer to its destination, it would slip back an inch. She was beginning to feel tired and very discouraged.

"I don't think I can do this," she gasped as icy tears sprang to her eyes to match the frosty sweat that dotted her brow. "I'm not strong like the others."

"I don't want to hear that crap!" Zoicite snapped, sounding harsher than she had heard him since their reintroduction a week before. "You don't give yourself enough credit! You are a sailor scout, the same as the others, and you are every bit as powerful as they are. Just because you prefer to use your mind over power doesn't make you weaker than them. Now show me what the scout of Mercury can do!"

Determination and adrenaline spiked through her like an icicle had been rammed down her spine and gave her the boost she needed. Feeling reenergized, she drew her icy blue energy back toward her, and slowly Zoicite's glittering soul sank into his chest.

Mercury stood on trembling legs and watched as Endymion's life giving energy dissipated and Zoicite's eyelids blinked open to reveal the vibrant green depths that she remembered from so long ago.

He looked at her and smiled as he sat up. "I told you that you could do it."

The relief that washed through her was so great that she collapsed against his shoulder.

* * *

Endymion heaved a relieved sigh as he felt the last soul return to its body and he broke the connection. He stood there with his eyes still closed as he took a moment to regain his bearings. He barely had a chance to draw in two fortifying breaths before he was attacked by a soft, laughing bundle that almost sent them both falling over.

He opened his eyes to meet Serenity's jubilant sky blue ones and smirked. "Mission accomplished, huh?"

"We did it!" she shrieked as she threw her arms around his neck. "I can't believe they're all alive again, but they are! But I'm not sure how long they all are going to make it."

Endymion took his first good look around at his newly revived generals. Kunzite appeared to be shell-shocked as he knelt next to Venus on the floor. They were staring at each other in complete disbelief. Nephrite had somehow managed to pin Jupiter's arms behind her back and was chuckling at her as she glared at him. Mars was constantly in motion as she tried to avoid a stalking Jadeite. The blond general was laughing although his gray uniform already showed a few scorch marks. Mercury was slumped up against Zoicite like a rag doll while he held her up.

Endymion snorted a laugh as he powered down. "Well, we knew it was going to be interesting. I guess we should give them a few minutes to get reacquainted."

Serenity smothered a yawn as her white gown melted back into her fuku. "Not too long though. I want to get out of this creepy place. I could use a nap after all of this."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed. "Bringing people back to life takes a lot out of me."

"Eek! Save me!" Jadeite screeched as he ducked behind them, slapping at the flames that were burning the cuff of his uniform. "Sweet princess, you won't let her get me, will you?"

"Let me at him, Serena!" Mars snarled as she stomped up. The flames in her violet eyes matched the ones dancing at her fingertips. "I warned that pervert to keep his hands to himself. Now I'm going to roast him!"

"Serena!" Jupiter screamed. "Tell this big buffoon of a bully that he better let me go before I shove a lightning bolt so far up his ass that it blows his eyeballs right out of their sockets!"

Venus and Mercury both seemed to have regained their composure and had wandered over as well.

"I guess we should make our preparations to leave," Mercury announced. "Since we were able to accomplish this fairly quickly I still have time to study for the trig exam."

"Study, study, study! Is that all you ever do?" Venus whined. "I say we go home and have a chick flick marathon with a couple of gallons of ice cream."

All of these voices talking at once was too much for Sailor Moon to handle. She was tired and cranky from using the Silver Crystal and her self control snapped. "All of you just shut up for a minute! It's impossible for anybody to think with all of you babbling away ninety miles an hour!"

"Wow! Someone sounds like she needs some Midol and a Kotex," Mars grumbled.

"I heard that, Pyro!" Sailor Moon shrieked.

Mars tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. "I'm glad you did, Meatball Head! Now can we please get the hell out of here?"

"I was about to suggest that!" Sailor Moon fired back.

There was a puff of pink smoke, and Sailor Pluto appeared. A bemused smile curved her lips. "Okay! Everyone calm down. Congratulations on the success of your mission. I knew you could do it. Your actions today have ensured that the timeline will continue as it should. Now since everyone seems to be so tired and worn out, I thought I would offer you an easier way home."

She tapped her staff against the floor and a large door appeared from out of nowhere. Sighs of relief came from all of the scouts. None of them had been looking forward to teleporting again.

Sailor Moon did look slightly concerned. "This isn't breaking some kind of a taboo or anything, is it, Trista? I'd hate for you to get in trouble with Chronos."

Pluto's mysterious smile only widened. "No. I'm not breaking any rules here. I won't be transporting you through time. I'm only taking you to a different location. I guess you could call it a lateral time jump."

"That's nice! She could have just brought us straight here in the first place and saved us all of the hassle we went through," Tuxedo Mask grumbled.

Pluto regarded him coolly. "Yes, I could have. But this wasn't my battle to be involved in. Sometimes people have to confront the ghosts of their pasts. It makes them stronger if they are able to overcome them and appreciate what they have in life just a little bit more."

He mulled over her words carefully for a moment. Even though he had hated revisiting all of the painful memories that he had today, he had to admit that deep down he felt like he had achieved some closure about the things that had happened while he had been held captive by Beryl. He looked down at Serena's glowing face and could tell that she felt the same way.

He smiled sheepishly at the time guardian. "I guess you're right. Now what was that about a ride home?"

She waved her staff and the door opened. "Follow me," she said as she stepped into the mists of the time plane.

They all followed her closely, not wanting to become separated. Since none of them possessed a time key, they knew that if they became lost here that they could be stuck wandering around for all eternity.

They passed door after door that looked exactly the same. But each door led to a different time and place. Pluto finally came to a stop before one and gestured to it.

"This one will return you to the park where you departed this morning," she told them. "I would suggest you all try to get some rest. You look bushed." Then she turned to look at the generals. "You four will accompany me to a different place for a short while. We must get you properly prepared for your new lives."

"You mean…they're not coming with us?" Venus whispered as she stared at Kunzite.

"It's just for a little while," Pluto told her. "They are not ready to face the modern world yet. I told you that plans had already been made to help them transition into this new time. They will be back before you know it and ready to take their place in society."

"Oh goody!" Mars drawled. "You can keep Jadeite. I don't care what you do, he will never be normal."

"Aww, I love you too, Mars," Jadeite snickered, making her growl.

Jupiter shrugged. "I would say you can keep Nephrite too, but I'm not done bashing him around yet."

The chestnut haired general chuckled but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Amy waved to Zoicite. "Go and learn lots of things. You'll enjoy it." But there was a suspicious sheen to her eyes as she turned away.

Zoicite looked at her mournfully, but remained quiet.

"Okay, off with you lot!" Pluto announced and waved the scouts and Tuxedo Mask toward the door.

They were just turning toward it when a high-pitched voice called out shrilly, "Serena! Darien!"

Pluto sighed and shook her head. "Small Lady…"

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask spun around just in time for a smaller body to barrel into them in a blur of pink and wrap her arms around each of their waists.

"Rini!" they exclaimed together.

Her adolescent face beamed up at them. "Hi guys!"

"Omigosh! You've gotten so big!" Sailor Moon exclaimed as she pulled her future daughter into a proper hug.

"I'm almost fourteen," Rini stated proudly, pulling herself up to her full height that was only a couple of inches shorter than her future mother.

"And you look it," Darien said as he fondly patted her head between her hair buns. Then he grumbled to himself, "Note to self, buy a shotgun to keep the boys away."

Sailor Moon elbowed him in the ribs and hissed. "Stop that! You sound just like my dad!"

Rini rushed around, hugging and squealing with the other scouts until Pluto spoke up loudly, "Small Lady! What are you doing here? You have permission to visit me at the time gate, but I have told you in no uncertain terms that you are not to go running around the time plane. How did you manage to get here without getting lost?"

Rini grinned and pulled a chain from under her shirt with a time key hanging from it. "Daddy gave it to me and said that I could come say hello."

Garnet eyes swung to Tuxedo Mask, who stumbled back a bit under the glare. "I didn't do it! Get mad at the future me!"

Kunzite slithered up beside him and murmured, "I'm assuming that this is the future daughter that you told us about."

Tuxedo Mask nodded. "Yeah, that's my little Serena clone."

Sailor Moon's eyes narrowed. "That better be a compliment, Darien Shields, or you're going to be in a world of trouble!"

"It is!" he assured her hastily.

"I still don't understand what you're doing here," Pluto was saying to Rini. "I thought you had plans with a friend today."

"I did," Rini grumbled as she scuffed a foot on the ground. "But she had something work related come up so we had to reschedule."

"Work related? Geez, how old is this friend?" Sailor Moon muttered.

Rini shook her head. "She's a family friend, that's all." Then she turned back to Pluto. "Anyway, then _someone _snuck into my room and broke into my diary and read some stuff that was personal. I got into a fight and mom was freaking out, so I came here to get away for a little while. End of story."

Pluto rubbed her temples. "It's amazing that I can keep my sanity at all. Okay, you said your hellos, Small Lady. Now say goodbye and let them get back home where they belong. I have work to do."

"Okay!" Rini grinned and ran around hugging everyone again, ending with her future parents. "I'm hoping to come and visit soon," she whispered to them.

"Your room is always ready," Sailor Moon whispered back as she gave her a squeeze.

Finals waves and goodbyes were called as the scouts and Tuxedo Mask stepped through the door to their time.

Pluto then turned her attention on the generals. "Follow me, gentlemen."

"What exactly do you have planned for us, Sailor Pluto?" Kunzite asked.

A tiny smile played around her mouth. "You'll see soon enough."

They followed her silently; watching as she conversed with the young, pink haired princess that was their prince's future daughter and marveling at how much like her mother she really was. Except for the coloring, she was extraordinarily like Serena in both looks and personality.

After walking for a while the mist began to thin and they could see the looming shape of the time gate before them. As the approached, five shadowy figures materialized from the mist. Four audible gulps were heard from the generals when they saw who awaited them.

King Endymion stood with his arms folded across his chest and a grin on his face as he surveyed the newcomers. Then he turned to his guard. "Well guys, I guess it's time for you to teach yourselves about life."

**A/N **Yay! The generals are alive again! Now they have to survive the facts of life that their future selves are going to teach them. And Pluto has one or two handy tricks stuck up her sleeve too. These guys are about to get a crash course in the modern world. What will the scouts think when their up to date generals make their reappearance? Hmm…I guess we'll find out. I also enjoyed sliding in the little innuendos about _Lunar Princess _and _GT_ when Rini showed up. I'm sure that any of you that have read either one of those know exactly who Rini's older friend and the person that snuck a peek at her diary are. I also have to admit that I got just a little bit sentimental when I wrote the scene where Serena and Darien were remembering their last moments together from season one. That probably means that I'll be bawling over my keyboard when I get around to writing the final scenes of _Rekindled, _even though that storyline has nothing to do with this one. Anyway, I better go, it's pushing 3 AM here. Damn my insomnia! Don't be shy, drop me a review and tell me what you thought. Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	7. All the King's Men

**A/N **Yes, yes, it's that time again. I want to apologize in advance to any of you that find this chapter disappointing. I don't know why, but it just wouldn't come together like I wanted it to. But after rewriting it 3 times and putting things in, taking things out, and doing a lot a switching around I've finally thrown my hands up in defeat. I'm ready to move on to the next chapter where I know I'll be able to have some fun. Not to mention I've got the next chapters of GT and Rekindled sitting on my flash drive and they are begging me for some attention. I'm not sure which one will be posted first because they're both in about the same shape; I guess it depends on what kind of frame of mind I'm in, but I hope to get them both updated very soon. Anyway, on with the hugs! BIG HUGS TO:

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**samsox**

**Sailor Phoenix1997**

**ilovesm**

**YingYing**

**sabina21**

**Angelstar14**

**Seredhiel05**

**Chibi Kitt**

**GoldenDragon326**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**ilovedamonbonnie**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**gots2luv**

**anime-lover10**

**sunbeam07**

**CCFan4Life**

**JuliaGulia17**

**Lilcala**

**KageNoNeko**

**jade2nightwing**

**Forest Sentry Koneji**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**SlackerDee**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**(anonymous)**

**Beauty Eclipsed**

**iloveblye**

**blk0912**

**Luthien Morgon**

**rainbabie**

Tons and tons of thank yous as always. I also want to say thank you to those of you that read and reviewed my V-day one-shot _Of Chocolate and Roses_. I always love hearing from you guys. Now let's get on with it!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 7

All the King's Men

* * *

'_Serena!'_

The voice calling her name echoed inside her head as she stared at the golden crystal that was floating several feet in front of her. She could hear Galaxia cackling in the background and the startled gasps of the Starlights behind her, but she was beyond comprehending or acknowledging any of it. All she could see was the look of resignation on Darien's face as he died.

This was wrong. Her prince wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. He was safely tucked away at college in America where he was studying to become a doctor. Galaxia never would have been able to get to him that easily. He was fine. This was just a trick of Galaxia's to try and beat her down even more than she already was.

But as she continued to stare at that crystal she knew it was true. Her Darien, her Endymion, her gallant earth prince was gone; just like Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury. He wasn't coming back to her.

She didn't realize until that moment how much she had been depending on him to show up to help her. Despite the months of silence and separation between them she had clung to the hope that he would appear out of nowhere to stand at her side. She had even envisioned it in her head. There would be the flash of red from a perfectly aimed rose coming between her and some disaster, and then she would turn her head and he would be there with his long black cape swishing around his elegant tuxedo. His impossibly dark, deep blue eyes would be shining behind his white mask as he strode to her side and took her in his arms. He would tell her that everything was okay and that they would find a way to save everyone.

But it wasn't going to happen that way. He was dead. Her closest friends were dead. Galaxia was too powerful for her to beat. The game was over. The earth was going to be destroyed and everyone was going to die.

She felt a small hand clutch the skirt of her fuku and knew that it was Chibi Chibi, but she couldn't even look at the little girl that she had become so attached to. It wasn't the same attachment that she felt with Rini, but there was still some kind of a bond between them. She had even thought on a few occasions that perhaps she was Rini's sister; another child of hers and Darien's sent from the future to keep her company.

Now she knew that it was impossible for that to be true. If Darien were her father then Chibi Chibi wouldn't exist, because he was dead. Crystal Tokyo would never exist, because its king no longer existed and its guardian scouts were gone. The world was screwed.

"Serena, we have to go. We need to fall back," that was Sailor Star Fighter's voice in her ear now. Her dear, dear Seiya; he had been such a good friend to her these past months. Okay, so it had been a bit of a shock when she had discovered that he was really a she, and that she was Sailor Star Fighter, but it didn't change the fact that Seiya had given her a shoulder to cry on when she'd desperately needed it.

Now the Starlight's were doomed too, just like the rest of them. They had come here seeking their missing princess who had fled from their home planet when it had been destroyed by Chaos. After months of searching they had finally found her and had been reunited, only to have to watch her die as she sacrificed herself in an attempt to protect them.

"And now, Sailor Moon, I will have your star seed to add to my collection," Galaxia stated in her calm, cool voice.

She looked up at the possessed sailor scout with dead eyes, not caring anymore about what happened to her. The battle was already lost. If Galaxia killed her then maybe she could see Raye, Mina, Lita, and Amy again. Perhaps she would be able to feel Darien's arms around her once more. Yes, it was better this way.

Galaxia raised her arms, the stones in the bracelets on her wrists glowing as she prepared to launch her attack.

Sailor Moon was still, waiting for the feeling of oblivion to wash over her. She could hear Star Healer and Star Maker screaming at her to run. She could feel Star Fighter pulling on her arm, but she just stood there and waited for the inevitable.

A blast shot from each bracelet and sped toward her. This was the end. Her salvation was coming for her.

And then there was a flash of bright light…

Serena bolted up in her bed so fast that she fell right out of it. Tears were wet on her face and she gulped in air in shuddering gasps as she tried to calm her racing heart. It took her several seconds to realize that she hadn't landed on the floor when she fell out of bed. Instead she had landed in a pair of warm arms that were holding her close to a firm chest.

She looked up into a pair of concerned, ocean blue eyes. "Darien!"

He heaved a relieved sigh that ruffled her bangs. "Thank god! I've been going crazy trying to wake you up for the last several minutes."

She looked around in confusion, trying to get her bearings. Had she spent the night at Darien's apartment? No. The dim light of early morning showed that she was clearly in her bedroom with its pink walls and white carpet. And that was definitely her favorite blanket with the moons and stars scattered across it that was tangled around her legs.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked him softly.

He arched a brow at her in a duh gesture. "Do you really have to ask? I was out for my morning jog when your fear factor went off the chart. I wanted to make sure that nobody was murdering you in your sleep."

"Oh," she muttered. She supposed she shouldn't really be surprised to find him there. The bond between them would have allowed him to sense her panic and of course he would come to investigate. The first week after Chaos's defeat had been the worst. He had camped out in her bedroom every night that she hadn't spent at his place just so that he could be there to soothe her from the nightmares that had plagued her several times a night.

It had gotten easier after that and the nightmares had begun to fade away. In fact, this was the first time that she'd had any of the horrible dreams in almost a month.

Darien kissed her temple lightly and whispered, "Was it Galaxia again?"

She looked up into his caring eyes and saw the lines of worry creasing his forehead. Her poor prince, he had been so concerned about her since he had been brought back to life after she had beaten Chaos. That was one of the reasons why they were butting heads over his acceptance to Harvard. It was also the major reason behind why he refused to take their relationship to the next level.

She didn't want to worry him anymore so she forced out a giggle and pushed herself out of his arms. "No silly! I guess my nerves are jittery because exams are starting today. I had a dream that my History book was chasing me and trying to eat me."

He watched her through narrowed eyes as she stood and untangled herself from the blanket. She was lying, and he knew it. "Serena…"

A knock at the door interrupted him and he dove to the opposite side of her bed and slid under it just as the door opened and Ilene Tsukino walked in.

"Good morning, honey! I thought I heard you stirring around in here," the indigo haired woman sang cheerfully.

"Morning mom!" Serena replied back just as cheerfully.

"So are you ready to start your exams today?" Ilene asked as she walked around the room, tossing discarded clothes toward the hamper and gathering up glasses and junk food wrappers.

"Er, as ready as I'll ever be I suppose," Serena grumbled.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Ilene said comfortingly. "I'm really proud of the way you've been studying lately. It's bound to pay off. Now get yourself ready and come downstairs. I'm making a big breakfast to help fuel your brain."

"Okay, mom. I'll be down in a little bit," Serena told her and then waited for the woman to leave the room. The moment the door closed behind her mother she flew across the room and locked the door.

"Man! That was a close one!" she groaned and looked toward the bed where Darien had already crawled out from under it and was sitting on the edge. "I thought for sure we were busted this time."

He grinned at her. "It will take more than a nosy mother to catch the great Tuxedo Mask, sweetheart."

"Please!" she snorted. "The great Tuxedo Mask indeed! I don't think even your awesome powers would be able to hide you if she had walked right up to the bed, bent down, and looked under it."

He shrugged. "Probably not, but you're forgetting one little thing."

Serena pulled a clean uniform from her closet and turned to face him. "And what exactly would that be?"

Darien lay back on her bed with his hands behind his head and a smug look on his face. "Your mother adores me. I don't think she'd have a problem with it if she caught me hiding under your bed."

A mischievous, feline grin curved Serena's lips. "Ah! But you've forgotten one other tiny little detail too. When mom pulls a Mina and starts squealing like a fangirl my dad is going to come running to find out what's going on. And he would definitely have a problem with you being on the second floor of this house, much less under my bed."

She smiled triumphantly as the cocky look melted off his face and she whirled into the adjoining bathroom. When she came back out a few minutes later, dressed in her uniform with a freshly washed face and brushed teeth, he was still lying in the same position. She sat down at her vanity table and began the laborious task of brushing her knee length hair.

After several moments of silence he spoke up. "So are you going to tell me the truth, or am I going to have to drag it out of you?"

Her eyes met his in the mirror's reflection. "What are you talking about?"

His expression hardened. "Come on, Serena! You know damn well what I'm talking about. I came through your window to find you crying and thrashing around in your sleep. I know what it looks like when someone is having a nightmare, and from the looks of it you were having a pretty bad one."

She sighed as she parted her hair down the middle and began twisting one side up into her trademark "meatball" style. "Yes, it was a Galaxia dream, but it's not that big of a deal. I mean, it's no wonder that I would have a nightmare after everything that's happened recently. Two days ago we were back in Beryl's lair and revisiting some pretty horrible memories. Is it really so surprising that other memories would get dredged up as well."

He stared at her for a minute before he conceded, "No. I guess it's not surprising at all. I just hate to see you going through this."

She finished one side of her hair and moved to the other, her fingers expertly and quickly molding the golden strands into shape. "Don't worry about it. I'm getting over it. This nightmare was just a fluke. I stayed up too late studying for my history exam and got overtired. When that happens my mind tends to get the better of me."

She secured her hair with hairpins and got up to get a pair of socks from her dresser. She sat on the side of the bed next to him to pull them on. His fingers began rubbing lazy circles across her back and she shivered a little in delight.

Then she turned around and nudged him with an elbow. "You're in my way." She reached under her pillow and pulled her transformation brooch from under it and pinned it to the bow on her shirt.

Darien frowned. "What are you doing sleeping with your brooch under your pillow?" The only times he had ever know her to do that was when they were under threat from an enemy.

She shrugged. "Old habit now, I guess. I got so used to sleeping with it there after so many months that I do it without thinking."

He sat up and pulled her against him to whisper against her hair. "There's no danger anymore, sweetheart. Chaos is gone. The world is safe. You can sleep easily at night."

She locked her arms around his neck. "I know." Then she tilted her head back to look at him.

He smiled down at her and then lowered his lips to hers.

It was a long, slow, languid kiss; one that seemed to make her bones melt and turned her into jelly. She moaned softly and tunneled her fingers into the black silk of his hair as his tongue stroked against hers. His answering moan reverberated in her mouth and made her shudder.

"Serena! Breakfast is ready! Come and eat while it's hot!" Ilene's voice floated up the stairs and through the closed door.

Serena growled in protest, but pulled her lips away from Darien's. "Darn! Mom sure has rotten timing!"

Darien chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. "You go eat. You'll need the brain fuel today. I'm going to run home, shower, and grab my car. Then I come back and give you a ride to school."

"But don't you have an exam this morning too?" Serena protested.

He crossed to her window and turned to smirk at her over his shoulder. "Yeah, but not until 9:00. I think I have enough time to give my gorgeous girlfriend a ride." He flicked his wrist and tossed a beautiful, thornless red rose to her.

She caught it with a giggle and held it to her nose to inhale its heavenly scent as he climbed over the windowsill and disappeared.

* * *

**Elysian**

"Rini! I said go home!" Endymion's voice echoed down the hall, causing the five men sitting around the table in the kitchen to look up from their breakfast in surprise.

"But Daaddyyy! That's not fair!" an eardrum-piercing wail followed right after that.

Neo Queen Serenity swept into the kitchen a moment later, seeming to be unfazed by the argument that was going on behind her. She headed straight for the coffee maker sitting on the counter.

"Good morning, your majesty," Helios greeted her. "Is there a problem with the young princess this morning?"

Serenity rolled her eyes as she reached for a bottle of chocolate syrup. "When is there not a problem with her nowadays? I honestly don't remember being that obstinate at that age. My mother disagrees and says that I acted just like her, but that can't be true. I'm sure I would remember acting like a brat."

"Would you like me to go speak to her?" Helios asked, half rising from the table.

She waved a hand at him. "No. Sit down and finish your breakfast. Let Darien deal with her for a change and see what I have to put up with day in and day out. When we're at home he always comes up with some paperwork that has to be done right away and escapes to his office. He needs a taste of what it is like to be the father of a teenage girl."

Jadeite chuckled as he bit into a biscuit. "You have a mean streak in you a mile wide, Sere. You should be running a torture chamber instead of overseeing a kingdom."

"You idiot!" Nephrite snarled and smacked the chuckling blonde on the back of the head. "You know better than to speak that way to royalty. And to a queen no less."

Serenity pealed a laugh as she pulled a can of whipped cream from the refrigerator. "Please! Like I want people to stand on ceremony with me. I may be a queen now, but am I really any different from the Serena you've gotten to know over the past week or so?"

The four generals looked her over and decided that there really wasn't much difference between the Neo Queen Serenity before them and the sixteen-year-old girl back in Tokyo. She looked to be a few years older and was taller with a slightly more voluptuous figure, but the bright smile on her face and the twinkling blue eyes were the same. The fact that she was dressed in white shorts and a pink tank top with white sandals on her feet and her blonde hair done up in a messy twist just added to her appearance of being normal.

"How could you just walk away and leave me like that?" Endymion exclaimed as he strode into the kitchen. He stopped in the middle of the room and folded his arms across his chest as he glared at his wife. "Do you know how nerve racking that was?"

Serenity smiled sweetly at him. "As a matter of fact I do, sweetheart. I deal with it all day, every day. Welcome to my world."

The king sighed and ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "She's just so much like you. I felt like I was dealing with you back when we first met all over again."

Serenity's eyes flared in indignation. "I never acted like that!"

Endymion smirked. "I beg to differ, darling. You seem to forget that I knew you when you were fourteen, and I remember those times well. Sure, you were a bouncy bundle of happy energy most of the time, but god forbid if you didn't get your way about something. You could raise the roof off a building with your wailing. I'm surprised that I have any hearing left at all after the number of times that you screeched at me."

The queen's sharp blue glare looked like it could cut through solid steel. "And why was I yelling at you? Oh yeah, that's right, because you were always being a jerk to me! And you're still doing a fairly good job of it to this day!"

"Um, excuse me," Kunzite spoke up suddenly. "I hate to cut into this lover's quarrel, but you two sound like you could keep this up all day and I thought we had other plans."

Serenity sighed and tore her angry gaze from her husband's. "You're right, Kunzite. We do have a lot to accomplish today and I haven't even asked any of you how you are doing yet. Are you getting some good rest and becoming used to being inside your bodies again?"

All four generals nodded. After being brought back to life by the past forms of the king, queen, and the sailor scouts and being introduced to the king and their future selves, they had been escorted here to Elysian and told to take a few days to rest up. They had been surprised to find that they were extremely tired and uncoordinated. It seemed that returning from the dead after so long had some drawbacks.

So they had been enjoying a mini-vacation of sorts for the last few days, sleeping, eating, and spending time in the training room of the palace as they rediscovered what it was like to be alive. They were all in a hurry to get things done here so that they could return to Tokyo of the past and start the new lives promised to them, but at the same time they wanted to make sure they did everything right as well. Since time moved differently in Elysian, they knew that they could spend a month here and only a week would have passed in the outside world.

But they hadn't been dumped here like unwanted kittens and left behind. Endymion and their future selves had been regular visitors and they had been shocked when they had woken up after sleeping the clock round and found Serenity waiting to greet them. They had looked around anxiously, hoping that the scouts had come with her, but they were disappointed to find that her guard had not accompanied her.

Endymion also decided to let the squabble with his wife go. He turned to the generals with a grin. "Well I hope you guys are ready to get to work. It won't take as long or be as bad as you think. You could spend a lifetime here studying just trying to learn about everything that you've missed out on in the past thousand years, but luckily we happen to have a few geniuses in our midst to help make the transition easier. So as soon as you have finished your breakfast we'll get down to business."

Zoicite tilted his head and had a perplexed expression on his face. "Are you saying that there's a way for us to catch up with the modern age in a short amount of time?"

Endymion just grinned. "You'll have to wait and see. I think you'll be thoroughly impressed."

Helios, finished with his meal, got up from the table and excused himself, saying that he had some business to take care of.

Serenity, knowing that the priest more than likely was headed for Crystal Tokyo to comfort the chastised Rini, figured she better distract her husband before he thought of that fact himself. She sidled up next to him with a smile. "I'm sorry I was snappy."

He grinned at her and she knew that her plan was working. "That's okay," he told her. "I wasn't exactly being the most cheerful person in the world either. Forgive me?"

She giggled. "Of course. But don't I always?"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. "True. But that's only because I'm so irresistible."

Kunzite put his coffee cup down and stood from the table. "We're ready."

"Aww! What did you have to go and ruin it for?" Jadeite pouted. "They were having a moment. Ow!" he cried as his head was knocked forward so far that it almost landed in his plate. He turned and glared at Nephrite as he growled, "If you don't stop doing that…"

Nephrite snorted. "Like I'm afraid of you, fire boy! I can take you any day."

Zoicite groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, Sweet Gaia! Here they go again."

Jadeite had gotten up from his seat and was bouncing on the balls of his feet with his fists up. "Come on, you fruity star gazer! If you think you're man enough to take me on, then let's dance!"

"Both of you knock it off!" Endymion and Kunzite roared together as Nephrite lunged from his chair. Then they shared a conspiratorial smile as they shook their heads. Some things never changed.

Hilarity ensued a moment later though when Jadeite, with barely more than a slight flick of his hand, had the can of whipped cream that the queen had left on the counter flying across the room by itself and squirting Nephrite's face full of the white dairy confection.

Nephrite bellowed in rage while Jadeite scampered to hide behind Endymion and Serenity. The king was rolling his eyes while the queen was doubled over at the waist with tears running down her face she was laughing so hard.

"Oh yeah! It's good to have my powers back!" Jadeite crowed triumphantly from his hiding place.

"I'm going to murder him!" Nephrite yelled as he wiped the whipped cream from his eyes so that he could open them.

"Oh hush, you big baby!" Serenity chastised through her laughter. "I would think that you would be used to Jadeite's antics by now. You've certainly known him long enough to become accustomed to them. Besides, he didn't get you that badly. Come here."

She took the large general by the arms and led him to the sink where she handed him a rag so that he could clean himself up.

"Serena," a soft voice spoke from the doorway. Everyone turned to look at the blue haired woman standing there. "I'm ready in the main parlor whenever you are," she announced.

"Thank you, Amy. We'll be there in just a moment," Serenity answered.

Amy turned and left, leaving behind four very shocked men, one more so than the others.

"Amy," Zoicite whispered.

Jadeite's blue eyes sparkled brilliantly. "Are the other scouts here too?"

Serenity shook her head. "Sorry, Amy was the only one to accompany me this time. We have a technique we want to try today, and since it's kind of her invention I had to bring her along to oversee things."

For the first time, Kunzite looked apprehensive. "What kind of a technique?"

"You don't have to look so worried," Serenity said with a roll of her eyes. "If I were in your position I wouldn't let anyone but Amy near me when it comes to something like this. Her amazing brain has never let me down before, and I don't think it's going to start now. So quit your bellyaching and let's get started!"

And although she looked like a college student, she swept from the room as regally as the queen she was, only to return sheepishly a few moments later to retrieve the cup of coffee that she had forgotten on the counter. She huffed out, "Well come on! What are you waiting for?" before hurrying out again.

So the five men followed her; Endymion chuckling as he blatantly admired his wife's gently swaying backside and the generals following at more sedate pace, looking wary and a little bit worried.

Their looks of apprehension grew when they reached the double doors that led to the parlor. They paused in the doorway and stared around in shock. Several portable tables had been moved into the room to hold the various computers and monitors that had been set up there. And in the middle of it all, Amy darted back and forth, looking at different readouts for a moment before typing something into her Mercury computer.

She finally looked up at the men hovering in the doorway and snapped uncharacteristically, "You can come on in. I don't bite or anything!"

They stumbled over the threshold with Kunzite having to literally drag an almost catatonic Zoicite by the arm.

Amy watched them for a moment, her gaze cool as she pushed her reading glasses up the bridge of her nose. Then she pointed to four chairs and demanded, "Sit!"

Zoicite dropped into a chair immediately; pale faced and without question while Jadeite took a seat as well with a slight smirk lifting his lips. Kunzite and Nephrite looked as if they wanted to argue with her imperious tone. She may be Sailor Mercury, but they were the former head generals of the Earth's royal army, and they weren't used to being bossed around. In the end they decided to keep their mouths shut and stiffly sat down.

Serenity and Endymion watched all of this in amusement from where they sat on a love seat together. Kunzite's highly offended look in particular struck the king as being funny and he buried his face in his wife's hair to muffle his laughter.

Serenity's lips twitched, but she managed to keep her face smooth and blank as she elbowed Endymion in the ribs and hissed, "Behave yourself!"

He moved his mouth to her ear and whispered, "But being naughty is so much more fun. Why don't we leave this part to Amy and you can take me upstairs and teach me a lesson?"

She blushed madly but pushed him away. "You are incorrigible!"

He put on his best puppy dog face. "But how often do we get time away from Crystal Tokyo like this; no meetings, no paperwork, and no teenagers?"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Like that's ever stopped you before! How about just the other day when you rushed that poor steward out of your office just because I came in to ask you something?"

Endymion grinned. "I'll never look at that rug the same way again."

Her blush deepened but she tried to look stern. "You made me late for a meeting with Amara and Michelle and then I had to deal with Amara teasing me through the whole thing. It wasn't until we were done and they were leaving that Michelle discreetly informed me that I had a hickey the size of Europe on my neck and that I might want to put some concealer on it before I met with anyone else."

"Just marking my territory," Endymion replied smugly. "Amara's always making her snide comments and flirting with you. I just wanted to let her know that her queen is well and thoroughly loved."

They had been conversing in whispers, but now Serenity's voice rose. "You did that on purpose?"

"Ahem!" Amy coughed. "If my pupils in the back are finished with their _important _conversation, I would like to move on."

The king and queen fell silent and tried to appear contrite.

Amy rolled her eyes at them, but humor sparkled in her icy blue orbs. "Thank you. Now I'm sure you gentlemen are wondering what I have in store for you. I would like to present to you the latest invention that has revolutionized the medical world. Through the use of faint electromagnetic pulses we have discovered that it is possible to enhance brainwaves to a level where they are able to receive large amounts of information digitally through these computers. I guess in a way you could call it high tech hypnosis."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Jadeite exclaimed, sitting up straight in his chair. "Are you telling me that all of your machines there can put things in our head that weren't there before?"

"That's a layman's way of putting it," Amy answered.

"Oh no! I don't think so!" Nephrite protested. "No offense, Mercury, but I've already had one woman screw around with my head. I am not getting back into that boat again!"

Amy heaved a sigh. "This isn't like brainwashing. This is simply a procedure to implant information. You have a thousand years to catch up on. You can spend years doing it the old fashioned way, or I can supply you with the knowledge in just a couple of hours."

Kunzite leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Forgive us for being leery, Lady Mercury, but if you manage to get inside our heads what's to stop you from wiping us clean and giving us all new personalities and identities? We have just had our lives returned to us and we would like to continue to remember who we are."

Endymion stood. "Do you honestly think we would do that to you? You've already met your future selves and have seen that they are still you. This is merely a tool to help you gain the knowledge that you need about the modern world. I helped Amy design this program myself." He nodded his head respectfully to her and she retuned the gesture. Of course neither one of them mentioned that Zoicite had been in on it as well. Nobody should know too much about their own future.

"But if you don't trust me…" the king let his voice fade away.

"I would like to hear more about it," Zoicite spoke up quietly.

Amy's gaze swung to him, and her expression seemed to soften for a moment before her professional facade fell back into place. "This procedure does not interfere with the part of the brain that controls memories. I cannot implant fake memories of things that have never happened nor can I remove anything that you remember. This technique was designed to help people who suffered from severe amnesia and had forgotten everything from how to walk, talk, or even feed and dress themselves. It is not able to return their memories of their lives to them, but at least they can become fully functioning people again in a short amount of time with some knowledge of the world they live in. You gentlemen are not in that sort of condition, so it should be fairly simple. If you will place your trust in me I can help you learn everything from world history to pop culture in less than a day. The choice is yours."

Silence hung heavy in the room for a few moments while each of the men carefully thought over her words.

Then Zoicite stood up. "I'll do it. I trust you, Amy. You've never given me any reason not to."

Jadeite barked a laugh. "What the hell! I'll do it too. Everybody already says I'm screwed up in the head anyway. So what harm can it do, right?"

"I would like a little more time to think about it," Kunzite announced.

"As would I," Nephrite agreed.

Amy bowed her head to them. "Of course. Take as long as you need to. It will take me some time anyway since I can only do one person at a time and each session can last anywhere from two to three hours. Zoicite, if you're ready I believe we'll start with you first."

"Teacher's pet," Jadeite snickered.

"Well that's settled," Endymion said. "How about the rest of us leave them alone so Amy can work her magic."

"Good luck!" Serenity called back as she followed the men from the room.

This left Zoicite alone in the room with the older future version of the girl he loved. He shuffled his feet nervously, not sure what to do or what to say.

Amy took pity on him. "How about you lay down here," she suggested, gesturing to a couch that had been moved close to where she was set up.

He did as she asked and watched her as she puttered around getting things in order. He tensed a little when she approached him.

"Just try to relax," she advised him in the gentlest voice he'd heard her use since this had started. "I promise you, it won't hurt a bit." She attached an electrode to each of his temples.

He swallowed his nerves and smiled at her. "I said that I trust you, and I do."

She patted his hand in reassurance before walking over to one of her computers. She tapped a few buttons and immediately Zoicite felt unbearably sleepy. In less than a minute was completely asleep.

Amy smiled as she watched the readout of his brainwaves level out into a calm, even pattern. "He's unconscious," she called out to the empty room.

A hidden door opened and her Zoicite stepped in. He beamed a bright smile at his wife as he joined her in front of one of the monitors. "I always told you I was the first to give in."

She giggled and kissed his cheek. "Yes you did, but even so I thought I was going to have a fight on my hands. You guys sure were a suspicious lot back then."

Zoicite chuckled and pulled her against him. "Well could you really blame us? We had just come back to life after being cursed for a thousand years, and we weren't exactly on the best of terms with you girls. If we had known what the future was going to bring then we would have jumped on board right away."

"I'm sure you would have," Amy quipped. "And it was hard for me just now to look at your past self and not tell him that he needed to go through with this so my husband could become the brilliant, educated man that I know and love. But we can't give away too much about our futures or it could inadvertently change our pasts."

"Well we wouldn't want that, would we?" Zoicite said softly. "We had some fun back in the day that I wouldn't want to trade for anything in the world."

"Neither would I," Amy agreed as she twined her fingers in the shoulder length, wheat colored hair at the nape of his neck and pulled his head down for a quick, but intense kiss. She pulled back a few seconds later with sparkling eyes. "Okay, my dear doctor, let's get your past self whipped into shape."

* * *

**Tokyo – Present Day**

Serena slammed her geometry book shut, tears of frustration burned in her eyes. "I give up! I'm never going to make sense out of all of this by tomorrow. They might as well go ahead and give me the F now, because I know that's what I'm going to end up making on this stupid exam!"

She buried her face in her folded up arms on Darien's coffee table where she began sniffling as her tears finally spilled over.

"Oh, Serena," Amy said sympathetically as she patted the top of her friend's blonde head. "It won't be that bad. You're not giving yourself enough credit. Your grades have improved so much the last few months. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Amy's right," Raye agreed in an unusually kind voice as she looked up from the English book she was studying from in preparation for the exam she had at her private school the next day. "I never thought you'd be able to pull anything higher than a D- out of your pocket, but you've surprised us all."

Serena raised her head to look at them with watery blue eyes. "You guys just don't get it! Sure I know the stuff that we've learned recently, but this test covers everything for the entire year. Do you know how much information I retained from the first six months of school? I can tell you. Nada! Zip! Zilch!"

Lita balled up a sheet of paper and threw it at her. "You're stressing out way too much. You know the basics. You have to in order to do the stuff we've been doing in class lately. All of it ties in together. You'll be able to figure it out once it's set before you."

"Yeah right!" Serena muttered as she picked up the wad of paper that had bounced off her head and threw it back. She miscalculated her throw and the paper bounced off Mina's head this time.

"Hey!" the other blonde complained as she looked up with glassy eyes from her own geometry book.

"Maybe it's time for a break before we all burn out," Darien suggested as he stood up from the bar where he and Andrew had both been cramming for their college exams.

"Good idea," Andrew agreed. "How about I run down to the arcade real quick and grab us some snacks so we can recharge before we hit the books again."

That brought a chorus of agreements from everyone and the sandy blonde jumped up and grabbed his keys, promising to be back in just a few minutes.

Mina and Amy wandered out onto the balcony, wondering aloud what the generals were doing right now while Raye and Lita trailed after them claiming that they could care less.

Their voices cut off as the glass door closed behind them, but Serena remained frozen in place as she glared at her nemesis, the geometry book. Fresh tears stung her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.

Darien sighed as he knelt down beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Shh, baby. It'll be okay. You're just going through burn out. Everybody goes through it at some point during exam week."

She buried her face in his chest and proceeded to wet his shirt with her tears. "I don't even know why I bother!" her muffled voice said. "I'm stupid and everyone knows it. I'm going to flunk everything anyway, so I may as well give up."

Darien felt a flash of anger at her self-deprecating words and he put his hands on her shoulders to push her back some so he could see her face. "Don't say that! Don't you ever say that! You are _not_ stupid! You are a bright and intelligent young woman with a wonderful future ahead of you. Now pull yourself together. You've faced monsters that were a hundred times scarier than these exams. You'll do just fine."

She sniffled loudly and looked up at him with red rimmed, swollen blue eyes that stared out from a wet, blotchy face. "Do you really think so?" she asked timidly.

"I know so," he told her with conviction. "You've been working hard lately and I'm proud of you. I'm sure it will pay off in the end. I think you may even surprise yourself."

"Thank you!" she squealed and threw her arms around his neck as she pressed her hot, damp face right above the collar of his shirt.

He stayed that way for a moment before getting up and helping her to her feet. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up before Drew gets back with the food. Then you can have a snack and I bet that will help you get your head on straight again."

He led her down the hall and through his bedroom to the adjoining master bathroom where he boosted her up to set her up on the vanity. Then he wet a washcloth and gently began cleaning her face.

She stared at him with adoring eyes. "You always know what to do and say to make me feel better."

He grinned at her as he finished his ministrations and tossed the rag toward the laundry hamper. "I've had a lot of practice."

If you were to ask Darien what happened next an hour, or even a thousand years from now, he would never be to give a straight answer. All he knew was that one minute he was smiling at his girlfriend, and the next he was all over her. Somewhere along the line her shirt had disappeared and his was unbuttoned and hanging open as her nails raked gently across his chest. And he was kissing her with all of the passion and desperation that he usually tried to hold in check when he was around her.

And she was responding eagerly to him. He broke the kiss with a moan as her hands slid from his chest, skimming his sides until her arms were around him. Then her fingers began working their magic on his back. He laid a trail of hot kisses down her neck as he brought a hand up to cup one of her breasts through the white, lacy material of her bra.

She was gasping and panting in his ear. Jumbled up, incoherent words of love tumbled from her lips like a siren's song…and his blood boiled over.

He jerked her hard against him and her legs came up to encircle his hips. His hands were under her skirt, sliding up her thighs. She reached for his belt. His fingers brushed the lace of her panties.

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Hey! You two quit making out in there and get back out here!" Raye's voice came through the door.

Darien jerked away from Serena like he had just been hit with a red-hot branding iron. He didn't remember closing the bathroom door, but he must have at some point during his loss of sanity. And he was grateful for that. He could picture the look of shock that would have appeared on Raye's face if she had walked in on what they had just been about to do.

"Raye!" Serena groaned and tilted her head back so that it rested against the mirror. "I swear one day I'm going to kill her!"

Darien unwrapped her legs from around his waist and stepped back, trying to appear as calm and collected as usual while he fought to bring his ragged breathing under control and tried to keep his gaze adverted from her heaving chest. "She's right though. We still have some more studying to do tonight."

Serena sighed and slid down from the countertop. "I guess you're right. Although at this point I think I'd rather face a whole army of youma by myself rather than go near my geometry book again. But I do have a few chapters left that I need to look through before my exam tomorrow."

She reached for her uniform shirt that was on the floor and pulled it on, much to his relief. She busied herself, straightening her skirt, bow, and brooch before checking her reflection in the mirror and smoothing back a few loose hairs that had escaped from her odangoes.

Then she turned to him with a smile. "Aren't you coming back out to join us?"

He tried to keep his answering smile light. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Okay!" she chirped cheerfully and kissed him quickly on the cheek before whirling out of the room.

Once she was gone Darien leaned against the wall and groaned as he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. What the hell was wrong with him? He was a man, not an animal. But he knew that if Raye hadn't interrupted them when she did and given him a much needed reality check that he had only been about ten seconds away from ripping his girlfriend's innocence away right there on his bathroom counter.

He pulled his hands from his eyes and stared at his frustrated reflection in the mirror. "You're a sick man, Shields!" he muttered to himself. "You always swore that you would make sure that the first time would be special. But there you were about to toss both of your virginities away like it was nothing. There wasn't even a bed involved, you stupid, idiotic, moronic asshole!"

He cursed himself for a few more minutes until he had finally calmed down and then finally set about straightening his clothes.

In the meantime, Serena was on cloud nine. She had paused outside the bathroom door after she had closed it behind her and had heard Darien's groan and then him muttering to himself a few seconds later. A devilish smile curved her lips and if one looked closely at her they may have even seen horns sprouting from her head.

She spun around and hugged herself in glee. She was slowly but surely wearing her prince down. Tonight had been the closest he had ever come to losing that rigid self-control of his. It wouldn't be much longer and she would be able to go in for the kill.

He could try to be noble all he wanted, but after almost three years she was tired of their stand still relationship. She had one summer to spend with him before she sent him off to Harvard in the fall, and she was still bound and determined that he would be going, but she wanted to create as many precious memories with him that she could so that she could look back on them once he was gone.

* * *

**Elysian**

Amy sat back from the computer monitor and sighed as she pulled her reading glasses off and set them on the table. She had been sitting in pretty much the same spot for over ten hours keeping an eye on the readouts as each one of the generals had agreed to let their brains be brought up to date on what had been happening in the world in the past thousand years.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she fought back a wave of fatigue and heard the scraping of a chair being pushed back. A moment later cool fingers were massaging her neck.

"Mmm…that feels good," she moaned.

Zoicite chuckled. "I thought it might. You are going straight home after this and getting some sleep. You are exhausted."

"Hmph!" she huffed. "We'll see about that. I'll be so glad when the baby is done teething. He's really had a hard time cutting these latest teeth. I was up with him every hour last night."

Zoicite clucked his tongue. "Why didn't you wake me? I would have gotten up with him."

She shook her head. "You were worn out from patching up that gardener from the chainsaw incident. I didn't want to disturb you. You looked so tired when you came in."

The blonde man sighed at his wife's stubbornness. "Well now it's your turn. This time you will sleep and I will take care of the big guy if he gets fussy."

Her head fell forward as he found a particularly bunched up knot of muscles. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

There was a light knock on the door and then Serenity slipped inside. "How's it going?" she asked, nodding toward where Kunzite was stretched out on the sofa. His large body swallowed up the piece of furniture, making it appear to be nothing more than a loveseat. The queen winced in sympathy. He would probably be feeling the aftereffects of that when he woke up.

"He's almost done," Zoicite answered her, never letting up on Amy's massage. "I know I lived through this once before, but things can change. So I have to ask; are the others doing okay?"

Serenity grinned. "They're great. Your past self and Darien have been talking medical mumbo jumbo for what feels like forever. Jadeite has examined every electrical device he can get his hands on. And Nephrite has been wandering around studying the architecture of the palace. So I think it's safe to say that this mission is a success. Kunzite will probably start crunching numbers as soon as he wakes up."

Amy sat forward and put her glasses back on as her computer beeped. "Well we're about to find out. He's waking up."

"I guess that's my cue to leave," Zoicite said as he leaned down and quickly kissed Amy's cheek before hurrying through the hidden door. He would have liked to stay and made sure that Amy wrapped up things as quickly as possible so she could get home and rest, but it was important that the generals of the past not know that they eventually would marry the scouts. It could cause huge problems in the way they pursued their relationships with their future wives if they had that knowledge. They needed to learn on their own.

"I'll go get Darien and the guys," Serenity said as she left the room. She was back in less than a minute with the four men.

They walked in just as Kunzite opened his eyes and groaned, "Man, what is this couch made out of, rocks?"

Nephrite chuckled as he went over and offered his friend a hand up. "That's what I said too. I won't be taking any more naps on it, that's for sure. I'd rather sleep on the floor."

"How do you feel?" Amy asked as she bustled over to remove the electrodes from his temples.

Kunzite took a few moments to think about that. "A little woozy, but other than that I'm fine."

"That'll pass in a minute, and when it does get ready for the ride of your life," Jadeite interjected excitedly. "Who would have ever thought that little old Earth would grow to be so big and so advanced? I can't believe some of the things that people have come up with. It's totally blown my mind!"

Nephrite rolled his eyes at him. "Why are you so perky? Did you guzzle a case of 5-hour energy shots or something?"

Amy, Serenity, and Endymion all shared conspiratorial smiles. The generals may not have noticed it yet, but the change in them was already showing. Their postures were a little looser and their voices less stilted. Modern words were also slipping into their vocabulary without a second thought.

"Okay, okay," Endymion said. "Amy's given you guys the knowledge, but now the hard part begins. You have to learn how to actually use what you now know. Knowing how to do something is one thing; actually doing it is another."

"What do you mean?" Kunzite asked, eyes clearer now that he'd had a moment to adjust.

Endymion grinned. "For example; you now know the motions to go through to drive a car. But that doesn't mean that you'll be able to jump behind the wheel and automatically know how to drive like a pro. There are some things that you will need to practice on. So there's still a lot of work to be done."

"Oh great!" all four of them grumbled.

Serenity giggled. "Don't sound so gloomy. You'll be in excellent hands After all, if you can't trust yourselves, who can you trust?"

Audible gulps were heard all around.

* * *

**Crystal Tokyo – The 30****th**** Century**

Mina accepted a frozen, fruity cocktail from the servant and settled back against the lounge chair. She took a sip as her eyes flickered over her assembled friends before fixing on her queen and best friend. "So how are they really doing, Serena? Kunzite won't really tell me anything. He just keeps disappearing into Elysian every time I turn around."

Next to her, Lita bobbed her head. "Same here. Nephrite has been very closed mouthed on the subject. Whenever I ask him about how things are going he just says _fine _and leaves it at that."

"Well I can't get Jadeite to shut up about it!" Raye snapped peevishly. "You'd think that he and his past self have suddenly become bosom buddies or something with the way he keeps going on. He's been more obnoxious than usual the last couple of days so I think it's having a bad influence on him."

Serenity giggled from where she sat on the side of the large indoor pool located at the rear of the Crystal Palace with her legs dangling in the water as she watched a fairly large group of kids playing in the water. The younger ones were splashing around in the shallow end while Rini and a few boys and girls closer to her age were in the deeper water.

"I think things are going quite well," the blonde queen answered. "There have been a few heated debates. I think the younger guys get a little resentful about being taught by their future selves. The last time I was there I overheard Kunzite and Nephrite from the past grouching about how they felt like little kids having to deal with their future selves domineering personalities. But they are eager to learn all they can so they can started with their lives so they suck it up and press on."

"I think they're suffering from 'cabin fever'," Amy replied as she floated over toward them with a toddler boy in her arms. "It's only been a few days here, but they've been closed up in Elysian for over two weeks. You know how free spirited they are. It probably feels like a prison to them."

"I know I'd go nuts if it were me," said Lita with a shiver. "I'm fond of peace and quiet and the great outdoors from time to time, but I like being around civilization too."

"Rini! No dunking!" Serenity called out to her daughter as she saw the pink haired girl jump on the back of a black haired boy and attempted to shove him under the water. Then she returned to the conversation. "I know it's difficult for them, but they're dealing with it. Your guys are pressing them hard and trying to get as much info into them as they can in the short amount of time they have to do it. Trista says that they have to be ready to return on Friday in order to keep things straight."

Mina giggled. "Do you girls still remember the first day that they came crashing back into our lives?"

They all sat there for a moment and thought before dissolving into laughter.

"They sure took us by surprise, didn't they," Lita chuckled.

Raye wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Surprise doesn't even begin to explain it."

Amy arched a brow. "I seem to remember the two of you being more violent than surprised."

"And Mina went all loopy," Serenity choked out. "It was a definite Kodak moment."

Mina waved a hand regally. "Yes the goddess of love was struck with temporary insanity. But damn! I couldn't help it. Have any of you ever bothered to take a good look at my baby? He puts the gods to shame." She sighed dramatically and let her eyes flutter closed.

"CANNONBALL!" a yell suddenly erupted as a boy that looked to be about ten, with tousled blonde curls, leapt from the diving board and into the water with a spectacular splash.

The women all gasped as a shower of water sluiced over them, soaking them all.

* * *

**Elysian**

Endymion tiptoed quietly through the room, careful to make no noise or any sudden movements that would distract the eight men that were currently split into pairs and conversing in low tense tones. After spending as much time with them as he had recently he knew that if he disturbed them in any way that it could mean certain death.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he made it into the hall without incident and closed the door behind him. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The tension inside that room was so thick that he doubted the world's sharpest blade could cut through it.

"How are they coming along?" a low quiet voice spoke up suddenly beside him.

He jumped with a hiss. "Trista! Damn! I hate it when you sneak up on me like that!"

She inclined her head. "I apologize, your majesty. But I was standing right here when you came out and thought that you saw me."

He shook his head. "I guess I was distracted. So what brings you here? Checking on their progress?"

She nodded. "Yes. Time is growing short and I wanted to make sure that things are on track for their appointed return to the past. We don't want the timeline skewering off course yet again and have to run around trying to fix it."

"No we don't," Endymion agreed. "Heaven knows that we've had enough of those types of problems already and that there are more to come. We don't need to make things harder for ourselves. But to answer your question, I believe they will be ready on time. I wish that the computer program we used on them had been around back when I was in school. It would have saved me a lot of headaches."

She smiled slightly. "I was under the impression that you usually enjoyed your studies."

He shrugged. "I did to a point. But it would have been nice to have had a little boost along the way. These guys have got it easy. They received college educations without having to lift a finger and have their careers set and ready for them to just walk right into. I hope they appreciate what we've done for them."

She arched a brow at him, but said nothing.

He huffed a laugh at himself. "Okay, I know they appreciate it. They've told me that enough times over the years. It's just hard to believe when you hear them bickering with each other so much. At least the hard part is almost done. There are only a few more things to cover with them and they should be ready, unless they manage to kill each other off first."

Pluto let out an uncharacteristic snort. "But after that their real battle begins. I hope they know what they're getting themselves into."

Endymion chuckled. "Hey, I offered them an out clause. I told them that they didn't have to hang around once they had new lives. They were the ones that decided to stay in Tokyo and chase the girls, not me."

Pluto's lips quirked up in a grin. "But it was entertaining to watch, wasn't it?"

Endymion returned her grin. "That it was."

* * *

**Tokyo – Present Day**

"YES!" Serena and Mina screeched together on Thursday afternoon as they practically ran out the front doors of Juuban High School. Lita and Amy followed behind them at a much more sedate pace.

"I can't believe that the exams are finally done!" Serena exclaimed as she spun around, enjoying the warm May breeze. "I thought this week from hell would never end!"

"Tell me about it," Mina groaned next to her. "I don't think I could stomach it if I had to look at one more book or note. My brain has been running on autopilot for the last few days."

Lita snorted. "Your brain runs on autopilot everyday, Mina. Did you even answer a single question on the Literature exam? Every time I glanced your way you were staring at the paper with a glassy look on your face and the end of the pencil in your mouth."

"Oh, Mina!" Amy scolded. "You didn't wave off a whole exam, did you?"

"Of course not!" the blonde retorted. "I answered every single question to the best of my ability. But some of them were really hard and made me have to stop and think about how to answer them."

Lita elbowed Serena in the ribs and whispered loudly, "I bet she was thinking all right, and it wasn't about Shakespeare. I'd be willing to put money down that she was thinking about a certain somebody that stands 6'4", looks like he bleaches his hair, and is built like he should be playing for the NFL."

Serena smiled and nodded, but her eyes were darting around, looking for the familiar glint of sunlight off of raven black hair.

"I was not thinking about Kunzite!" Mina fumed. Then she blushed slightly. "Okay, maybe I was a little bit, but only because I'm worried about him. It's been five full days and they haven't come back yet. Aren't you worried about Nephrite at all?"

"Nope!" Lita replied nonchalantly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to kicking his ass if he does show his face around here again. But another part of me is hoping that Trista shoved them all into the dinosaur era and left them there."

"Lita!" Amy gasped as her face blanched white. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

Lita rolled her dark green eyes. "Oh, that's right! I forgot who I was talking to. You two have pretty much already taken them back. So when are the weddings?"

Amy huffed indignantly. "For your information, I have _not _decided to take Zoicite back. But that doesn't mean that I wish any ill will to befall him. In time we may even be able to become friends. But he may decide to go and live his life someplace else for all I know. By the way, did you and Raye ever stop to think that you two have been getting yourselves worked up over nothing? The world is full of other women, so Nephrite and Jadeite may just decide to move on."

"She's got a point," Mina said to an open mouthed Lita as she watched Amy walk primly away. "The world is a mighty big sea with a lot of fish for them to choose from."

"But…but…" Lita stammered. "You're always going on about soul mates. So doesn't that make them automatically want to be with us?"

Mina shook her head. "Lita, Lita, Lita…doesn't anyone ever listen to me when I have something to say about the subject of love?"

"No. Not really," the auburn haired girl muttered.

The love goddess sighed deeply. "Just because someone has a soul mate doesn't guarantee that they will end up with that person. In fact, most people don't. Believe me, I think the world's divorce rate would be much lower if everybody had the ability to see what I see. But that still doesn't mean that people can't find happiness with someone who is not their soul mate."

Lita shrugged it off. "Whatever! I don't care what he does. Now let's hit the arcade and celebrate the end of all of these annoying exams."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Serena, are you coming with us?" Mina asked as she turned to her friend. She was surprised to find Serena looking dejected and depressed. "Uh oh! What's wrong?"

Serena blinked hard and then pasted a wide, and what she hoped was a genuine looking smile on her face. "Oh! Nothing's wrong. I had just thought that Darien might be here when we got out. His exam for today was supposed to have ended about a half hour ago, and since he walks right past here on his way to the arcade I thought he may stick around."

Mina looped her arm through Serena's. "He may be running behind. His test may have run over or maybe one of his teachers wanted to talk to him."

Lita put her arm through Serena's other one. "Either that or he was so famished that he decided to go on to the arcade and wait for you there. Our high school exams are hard enough, I can't even imagine how harsh med school exams can be."

"You're probably right," Serena agreed and then cheered. "To the arcade!" But inside she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She'd had this feeling on and off ever since shortly after her and Darien's _encounter _in his bathroom Monday night.

He had reappeared in the living room shortly after she had, looking calm and acting normal. Andrew had shown up not long after that and they'd all had a quick snack before hitting the books again. But as the night wore on she'd noticed a difference. Usually when they studied she and Darien would exchange encouraging looks every so often. But every time she looked up that night his eyes had been firmly on his books.

And then when it had gotten late and everyone was preparing to leave he'd said that he was in the middle of some heavy studying and asked Andrew if he minded giving everyone a lift home. He'd given her an absent kiss on the cheek and sent her on her way to crowd into Andrew's Mustang.

It had been the same the last two nights as well. He wasn't ignoring her. He still spoke to her in the same loving tone he always used and had helped her when she had been struggling through her English notes. He'd laughed when she'd teased him that he was going to suffer from burnout from studying so hard. And he still called her every night to wish her sweet dreams before she went to bed. But something was different. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

'_You're being paranoid, Serena,' _she chided herself. _'Like Lita said, med school is way more intense than high school. And Darien has always been a perfectionist when it comes to his grades. So it's no wonder that he has been distracted this week. He's probably sitting at the arcade right now trying to regroup from a hellish test.'_

She could easily find out if she wanted to. All she had to do is reach out through their bond. But he would feel her if she did, and she didn't want to bother him if he was in the middle of something important. She knew from experience how distracting it could be to suddenly feel like someone was watching over your shoulder. She had even fussed at Darien for doing it to her on a few occasions, so it would be hypocritical of her to do it to him.

Besides, it wasn't like he'd said that he would meet her outside the school this afternoon. She had just taken it for granted that he would because that was something that he would normally do. But then again, he wasn't exactly acting normal lately. Never in the history of their almost three year long relationship could she ever remember a time when Darien had not personally seen her home after they had spent time together. Even if he were busy with something he would always take the time to drive her or walk her home. And he never made her feel like he was rushing away to do something else. He would share a few kisses with her and tell her at least three times that he loved her once they were alone.

Then it clicked in her head. Just like a ray of sun bursting through the clouds the realization sank in. _When they were alone. _They hadn't been alone together since Monday night. There was always at least one person with them at all times. Then she remembered the night before, and how she had walked into Darien's kitchen to get a soda from the refrigerator and found him pouring himself a cup of coffee. All he had done was toss her a hasty smile before he'd made tracks out of the room.

'_That slimy little weasel! Now I know what he's up to!' _Serena thought in irritation. _'His chivalry was shaken after our rendezvous in the bathroom so he's keeping other people around so that he won't be tempted to do something that he thinks is un-noble. Well I'll show him!'_

"Hey, Mina, are we still on for the pool party at your house tomorrow?" she asked in a casual tone. Mina lived in a large house that was about a mile away from hers. Since her father was a diplomat and her mother chose to travel with him, Mina usually had the place to herself. And she had a fabulous pool in the back yard.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Duh! Of course we are. Could you possibly think of a better way to start our summer vacation?"

'_Oh I could think of one!' _Serena thought mischievously, but she just smiled and nodded. "Great! Hey, do you two feel like running to the mall with me this afternoon? I think I want to buy a new swimsuit to celebrate summer."

"I'm game," Lita replied. "Maybe I'll get me a new one too. The one I have now is at least three years old. I could use an update."

Mina bounced excitedly. "Well you know I never turn down a trip to the mall. Perhaps a new swimsuit will catch my eye."

Lita sighed dramatically. "Like you don't already have fifty."

The perky blonde looked offended. "I do not have fifty! Okay, so I've never counted them, but I know I don't have anywhere near fifty!"

Serena let their voices fade into the back of her mind as they entered the arcade and they drifted toward the booth where Amy, who had beaten them there, was already sitting with Raye. But the pigtailed blonde had another destination in mind as she made her way toward the counter and the black haired hottie that was sitting there talking to Andrew.

"Hey, sweetie!" she greeted Darien and gave him a peck on the cheek as she slid onto the stool next to him. She was careful to keep her voice and her expression as cheerfully neutral as always.

Darien turned to her with the same smile he always greeted her with. "Hey! So did you finally get the last of the horrible exams over with?"

Her head bobbed up and down. "I sure did. Tomorrow is technically the last day of school, but it's only a half-day. All we'll be doing is turning in books and cleaning out lockers. So in my mind summer has begun. Can I get a triple chocolate shake, Drew?"

He grinned at her. "Sure thing. So what do you have planned for the summer?"

'_Oh, if you only knew!' _she thought devilishly. But she answered, "Not a thing. I figure I'll just go with the flow and see where it takes me. Isn't that what summer vacation is all about?"

The sandy blonde chuckled as he set to work scooping up ice cream. "I guess so. Well you know where I'll be. Right here serving up cold treats to keep everybody cool."

Serena giggled. "Your parents have to give you some time off every now and then. Speaking of which, you're coming to Mina's tomorrow, aren't you? We're going swimming to celebrate summer finally arriving."

"I wouldn't miss it," Andrew said as he placed the finished milkshake in front of her.

She turned wide, innocent eyes on Darien. "You're still coming too, right?" she asked hopefully.

He smiled indulgently at her. "I told you I would. I have one last test in the morning and then I'll run home, change, and come pick you up. Okay?"

"Okay!" she chirped. Then she slowly and deliberately placed her lips around the straw in her glass and took a long sip. The devil inside her cackled gleefully when she saw Darien's dark blue eyes begin to simmer. She could even hear the slight hitch in his breath as his respiration sped up. If the arcade wasn't so noisy she was sure that she would probably be able to hear his heart rate increasing as well.

The naughty feeling inside her grew larger at his reaction and she couldn't help herself. She closed her eyes and let out a low moan before carefully sliding her lips off the straw. Then she let her eyelids flutter dazedly and made her voice sound slightly husky, "That tastes wonderful."

Andrew, unaware of what she was doing or the effect it was having on his best friend, laughed. "I'm glad you like it, Sere. I know I can always depend on you for compliments."

"It's like a little slice of heaven," she almost purred. Then she licked her lips as she turned her full attention back to her boyfriend. She smiled when she saw the way his eyes followed the tip of her tongue as it slid across her lips and the flush that was creeping up the tawny skin of his neck toward his face.

Then she picked up her milkshake and hopped up from the stool. She gave Darien another quick kiss on the cheek and said perkily, "I've got to go make plans with the girls. I think we're going to the mall tonight." And then she whirled away with just enough force to send her skirt flaring out around her.

She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a tiny gasp behind her, and she grinned. _'Ha! Maybe that will give you something to think about, my prince!' _

Back at the counter, Darien sank a hand into his hair and clenched it there as he thought, _'Holy shit! I don't know how much more of this I can take. She is seriously going to be the death of me!'_

* * *

**Crystal Tokyo – The 30th Century**

(**A/N **To avoid confusion during this part the past generals will be called by their full names while the future guys will go by Kunz, Jed, Neph, and Zoi. I just thought I'd let you know that.)

The jet black Ferrari with flames emblazoned down the sides screeched to a halt, laying down a trail of rubber and sending up a cloud of smoke.

King Endymion winced at the sound and immediately began visually inspecting the vehicle for any damage.

Kunz chuckled next to him and leaned over to say softly. "Well at least if the idiot wrecks it he'll technically be wrecking his own car. But I'm sure Jed's still not exactly happy about letting him drive it. I've always said that the way he babies that thing cannot be healthy."

His words were proven wrong a few moments later when both the driver and passenger side doors opened and two, almost identical looking blonde men jumped out of the car.

"Hot damn! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Jadeite crowed as he got out from behind the wheel.

Jed grinned at him, feeling like he was looking in a mirror. "She drives like a badass dream, doesn't she?"

"Good god," Kunzite grumbled, barely glancing up from the laptop his future self had given to him that was already downloaded with all of the information he needed for starting his own company. "Being around one of them is bad enough, but having two Jadeites around at the same time is enough to drive a saint to commit murder."

Nephrite growled, but didn't look up from his laptop at all. "Does that mean that nobody will blame me if I kill one or both of them."

Neph laughed and slapped his younger counterpart on the shoulder. "I can't really tell you anything about the future, but believe me when I say that he does eventually grow up just a little bit. Jed's just being overly rambunctious today because he's getting to hotrod with his former self."

"What was that, Nephi-poo? Were you just telling everyone how wonderful you think I am?" Jed snickered as he hopped over the waist high concrete wall to join them. He punched Neph playfully in the arm.

"Put that hand on me again and I'll break every bone in it," Neph snarled.

"Down children!" Endymion said sternly, but with a hint of a laugh. Then he looked around at the eight men around him and grinned. "I still can't get used to seeing all of you together like this. It's like having double vision or something."

Jadeite jumped up and stood on the low wall. "It's a shame we couldn't bring the Darien of the past with us. That would have been a hoot. We could have been like the Ten Musketeers."

Endymion grimaced a little at those words. "Ah, no. That wouldn't have been a good idea. My past self doesn't exactly like me too much."

Zoicite looked up from the medical journal he had been engrossed in for the past two hours. "What? How could your past self not like you? You are the same person."

Endymion rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture. "I kind of did something to piss him off and he's held a little bit of a grudge about it ever since. But he'll understand why I did it when it comes time for him to make the same decision."

Zoi, mimicking his younger self, also looked up from a book. "Pissing him off is putting it mildly. You may as well tell them the truth. I'm sure they'll hear about it at some point anyway."

The king flushed red. "I kind of interfered in his and Serena's relationship in order to speed up the bond between them because I needed their help with a problem here. I sent my past self some dreams telling him that Serena would die if he stayed with her."

Jadeite winced. "Ouch! That was harsh."

Endymion nodded. "I know it was, but I had my reasons for doing it. Let's just say that he wasn't too happy with me when he found out I was the one that did it."

Kunz laughed. "That's putting it mildly. The way I heard it was that you were lucky that the boy couldn't physically put his hands on you because he took a swing that would have probably separated your head from your body if it had connected."

"That's always made me wonder," Jed mused. "If the Darien of the past had been able to do in our illustrious king, would that be considered murder or suicide? Because technically he would have been killing himself." He ducked to avoid the empty soda can that Neph pitched at his head.

They were all laughing together when a young woman approached them. She was average height with shoulder length black hair, pale skin, and large, deep purple eyes. Her lips twitched in amusement for a moment before she addressed the king.

"Darien," she said in a soft voice. "Amara was wondering if you were almost done here. She has a new car that she wants to test out while it's still daylight."

Endymion returned her smile. "Yeah, we're pretty much done. Tell Amara that we'll be out of her hair in a minute. And tell her I said thank you for letting us use the track today. It's a lot easier teaching this lot to drive here than out on the city streets. Not to mention it would probably cause quite a bit of confusion if four sets of identical men were seen walking around."

The woman giggled. "It probably would cause somewhat of a stir, but I think most of the people of Crystal Tokyo have become used to unusual occurrences over the years." Then her gaze flickered to the four past generals who were looking at her as if they couldn't believe that she was so easily accepting of the strange phenomena of them being there.

Then her eyes hardened and narrowed as she saw Jadeite blatantly checking out her legs that were bare under her short black skirt. "See something you like?" she hissed in a cold, deadly voice.

"Um…yeah," he muttered and then jumped as Kunzite elbowed him in the ribs. "I mean no! Not that you don't have good looking legs…but I wasn't really looking…it's just that…oh, never mind! I'm just going to shut up now."

"Those are the most intelligent words I've heard come out of your mouth yet," she said, keeping him pinned in place with that chilling stare."

"Aww, come on Taru! Stop giving me such a hard time," Jed drawled lazily as he leaned against the short wall. "I didn't know any better at the time." Then he winked outrageously at her.

Surprisingly her face softened and she giggled as she rose up on her tiptoes to whisper in Endymion's ear, "How does Raye put up with him?"

Endymion chuckled. "I have no idea. I guess I ought to introduce you to everyone that doesn't already know you. You know the guys of course. Guys, this is Hotaru Tsu…" he quickly caught himself, "Hotaru Tomoe. You'll be meeting her in the past at some point. She's sort of Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto's adopted daughter."

"Oh," Nephrite said, a little wary at the mention of the outer scouts. "I thought you might be Endymion's secretary or something."

A mischievous smile curved her lips. "Actually, I work directly under the queen. I am Sailor Saturn."

Her words had the effect on them that she had desired. Kunzite and Nephrite scuttled back several paces. Jadeite yelped and promptly fell on his butt. Zoicite went pale, but was able to mutter, "Dear God! Is the world about to come to an end?"

Hotaru and the rest of the men doubled over with laughter at their responses.

"I'm glad to see we're such a form of amusement," Nephrite grumbled.

Jadeite nodded his head rapidly. "Tell me about it! I know that I don't remember everything about the past, but I do remember the legend that stated that if Sailor Saturn was awakened then whatever planet she was on went ka-boom!"

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "I guess that's a pretty cut and dry way to look at it. I was awakened, and the Earth was almost destroyed, but thanks to Serena the planet was saved and I was given a chance at life that I have never had before."

"Is there anything that Serena hasn't done?" Kunzite whispered, sounding slightly in awe.

Endymion beamed with pride. "Not really. My wife is a very extraordinary woman. I stopped trying to second guess her years ago. When something seems impossible she always manages to pull off a miracle somehow."

"That she does," Hotaru agreed softly. Then she shook her head. "Well, I'm off. I still have a few stops to make on the way home."

"Be careful!" Endymion called after her as she walked away. Then he looked at his watch. "I guess I better get you guys back to Elysian so I can get home and get ready for a dinner I have to attend tonight. Serena will make me sleep on the couch for sure if I skip out on it."

He waved a golden glowing hand and a portal appeared. Everybody stepped through it and found themselves in the garden of the Elysian palace. Because of the different way that time moved there it was already full night in Elysian while it was only late afternoon in Crystal Tokyo.

"Well I have business to attend to, so I guess this is where I'll leave you," Endymion told them. "I'm sure I'll be back before you leave."

"We're leaving soon?" Kunzite asked in surprise.

Kunz stepped forward. "We still have a few loose ends to tie up, but for the most part we've shown you enough to get you started. You'll gain the rest of what you need to know from life experience."

"So how soon are we leaving?" Nephrite asked.

"You will stay here for one more of Elysian's days and leave the day after tomorrow," Zoi answered. "When you return to Tokyo it will be approximately six days from when you were last there."

"It feels like it's been a hell of a lot longer than that," Jadeite muttered.

Jed smirked. "I know it has, but for now I would suggest you guys get some sleep. You're going to need it to face what's waiting for you tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Zoicite demanded. "I thought you said that we were pretty much done with everything."

"You'll see," the four future generals intoned together. Snickering, they stepped through the portal that Endymion had just opened.

The king turned to them with a smug grin. "I would take their advice and get some rest. You're going to need your heads on straight if you hope to get through tomorrow in one piece." Then he disappeared as well.

"How cryptically vague," Zoicite muttered in an offended tone.

Jadeite's head bobbed. "I know, right? They've already pounded our brains into jelly. What other evil plans could they be cooking up?"

"I don't think I want to know," Nephrite groaned.

Kunzite shook his head. "Whatever it is, I'm just ready for it to be over and done. I'm sick of being stuck here."

"You just want to hurry up and get back to Miiinnnaa!" Jadeite drawled and made a few kissy noises.

Nephrite slapped him upside the head.

"Thank you," Kunzite replied. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings."

They all sighed and nodded before trooping up to the palace in search of food and their beds. But each one of them had a heavy, foreboding feeling telling them that the next day was going to turn their world upside down.

* * *

**A/N **Uh oh! What's going to happen to the generals now? Poor little things, they're just ready to move on with their lives already. Well the next chapter will land them back in Tokyo and that's when things are going to get crazy. And our little moon princess is about to take control of her and her prince's relationship. What kinds of evil torture could she have planned for him? (Sere-chan waves a dismissive hand at a whimpering Darien. "Suck it up and take it like a man!") This chapter was really difficult to put together for some reason, but now that we're moving on I'm super excited because now I have all my little couples to play with again. Let the games begin! LOL! As always, I crave your feedback on this, so drop me a review and tell me your thoughts. Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~

**P.S. **BTW, did any of you GT readers catch Endymion's almost slip with Hotaru's name and my mention of the black haired boy that Rini was trying to dunk in the pool and the blonde prankster that cannonballed the queen and the scouts?


	8. Metamorphosis

**A/N **I know, I know! I'm running way behind on updates. All I can say is this week has been absolutely crazy. Not only am I still trying to kick the last of this cold that has been lingering for what feels like forever, but my hubby has been on vacation and he has kept me busy, busy, busy whenever I'm not tied up with work and other pressing matters, so I haven't had as much writing time as I'm used to. But I finally got this part done and ready to post. So let me get my hugs out and I'll let you get on with it. BIG HUGS TO:

**saveme57**

**Seredhiel05**

**(anonymous)**

**jade2nightwing**

**anime-lover10**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**Chibi Kitt**

**KageNoNeko**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**CCFan4Life**

**samsox**

**Fedski**

**applenica**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**SammieAtHome**

**YingYing**

**Isis2010**

**Lilcala**

**GOTS2LUV**

**sabina21**

**ilovesm**

**Swinkinator**

**Breezy24**

**S dot Serenity**

**SailorMercuryRocks**

**Luthien Morgon**

**Hikari Urania**

**LadyRosalie29**

Giant hugs and tons of thank yous to all of you. Oh, and kudos to all of you that correctly identified DJ and Jayden in the last chapter, along with Hotaru's married name. You guys were really paying attention. You all win Andrew's special milkshake of the week, which happens to be chocolate and peanut butter, which of course is Alex's favorite. Now I'm going to shut up and let you move on!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 8

Metamorphosis

* * *

_**Elysian**_

Half asleep, Kunzite growled as the curtains across his bedroom window were pulled open wide and bright sunlight fell across his face. He rolled over and pulled the covers over his head in obvious resistance.

Then a husky chuckle reached his ears. "Well, well, it appears the mighty general prefers to sleep in this morning."

His eyes snapped open at the sound. He knew that voice. He sat up quickly and looked around. Sure enough, there was a golden goddess standing next to the window, bathed in sunlight. "Mina?" he asked in stunned surprise.

She gave him a slight smile. "So he is alive after all. I was wondering there for a minute. We have a busy morning, general, and I need you get up."

He watched in stunned silence as she walked to the closet and flung the doors open wide before she began rummaging inside. He took in the differences between this woman and the Mina that he had left behind in Tokyo and realized that this must be the future Sailor Venus, the head of Neo Queen Serenity's guard.

She emerged from the closet with a pair of slacks and a button down shirt draped over her arm and tossed them across the bed. "Get yourself up and dressed and I'll meet you downstairs."

"What! Wait a minute! What exactly is going on?" Kunzite sputtered.

Mina gave him a sly smile. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see." Then she slipped out the door.

* * *

Nephrite was dreaming that he was in the middle of a wide open field, beneath starry skies. He was gazing up at the stars to see if they had any words of wisdom to share with him when suddenly storm clouds rolled in from the horizon.

Without warning a bolt of lightning shot from the gray skies and hit him head on. He jolted violently, and the next thing he new he was waking up on the floor beside his bed.

"Oops!" a voice laughed. "I guess I gave it just a little too much juice. My bad!"

"Lita!" he snarled, recognizing her voice immediately. He sat up and eyed the still laughing, auburn haired woman warily.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. "But the opportunity was just too perfect."

At first glance he realized that he wasn't dealing with the high school student that he had met in the past. This was a fully-grown and mature Sailor Jupiter. But he refused to let himself be cowed by her. "Are you quite happy with yourself?" he growled.

"Immensely," she proclaimed. "I was sent up here to wake you up. Now that my job is complete I would suggest that you get yourself up and dressed. Breakfast will be ready soon, and then we have business to attend to after that."

"What kind of business?" he grumbled as he picked himself up off the floor.

Lita smirked. "Oh, you'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Zoicite shivered and pulled the covers up closer under his chin. While he tended to like things colder than the average person, this was frigid, even for him. He opened his eyes and was confronted with a cold, thick mist that was impossible to see through.

"Mercury!" he exclaimed, knowing that she was the only person that could create such a cold, oppressive blindness.

"Oh pooh!" he heard her quiet voice complain. "I was thinking that it would take a little bit more than that to wake you up."

"It's kind of hard to sleep when you're in danger of suffering frostbite," he quipped back as the fog faded from around him.

The future version of Amy appraised him critically. "Get up and get dressed, Zoicite. We have work to do."

"What kind of work?" he fired back, just a little peeved at her attitude.

"You'll find out soon enough," she told him haughtily. "Pluto plans to return you to your new life before the day ends in Elysian, so that means we have a few things left to cover."

"And what kind of things would those be?" he countered obstinately.

She glanced back over her shoulder at him as she left the room. "Let's just say that they're important and leave it at that. I'll see you downstairs."

* * *

Jadeite twitched a little as he felt a sensation that made him think that someone had stuck matches between his toes and lit them. In fact, when he opened his eyes he could see tiny flames dancing around his feet.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed, scrambling into a sitting position and beating out the fire with a blanket. "Raye!"

An evil snicker came from a shadowy corner as a dark haired woman crept out from it. "Well, that was fun while it lasted."

"I see you're still as cruel as ever," he muttered snidely.

"I have my moments," the future Raye quipped. "Well now that you're awake I'm assuming that you're mature enough to get yourself dressed and join us downstairs."

Jadeite's inner devil sprang to life. "Well now, I don't know. If you're offering to stay and help me change I might be willing to take you up on the offer."

"Pervert!" she hissed. "Just get dressed and come downstairs."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to give me a hand?" he called at her retreating back.

The slamming of the door was his only answer.

* * *

It was a very wary group of men that descended the stairway of the Golden Palace about twenty minutes later. They all shared confused looks with one another and then shrugged to let each other know that they had no clue as to what was going on. They followed the sound of chattering female voices until they reached the kitchen door; then they peeked inside carefully.

Lita was at the stove, tending a sizzling skillet. Raye and Amy were on either side of her, leaning up against the cabinets as they sipped from teacups. Mina and Neo Queen Serenity were seated on stools at the center island. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two blondes had been put there because they were least likely to get into trouble, like starting a fire, there.

King Endymion was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper before him. He seemed to be tuning out the women's voices for the most part as he scanned the paper.

"I know. I wish she could have come with us today too," Serenity was saying. "She's been working so hard lately. And between that and those rugrats of hers, she could use a break. But unfortunately her presence here would raise too many questions and impact the past. I was just saying to Andrew last night that he and Je…"

"Ahem!" Endymion cleared his throat loudly; interrupting whatever his wife had been about to say. He cocked his head toward the doorway while arching an eyebrow.

"Well, come on and get yourselves in here and stop lurking in doorways like a bunch of creepers," Lita snapped as she marched over to the table and plunked down a platter of crisply fried bacon. "The food will taste better if you eat it while it's hot."

"Yeah, you're not going to hear anything juicy, despite some people's tendencies to run their mouths too much," Raye sniffed as she tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder.

Serenity stuck her tongue out at her friend and then turned to greet the generals that had just stepped into the room with a bright smile. "Good morning, guys! Don't pay any attention to the sour patch twins here; they're just being their normal cheerful selves. And I can promise that Lita's acidity never spills over into her cooking, so dig in and enjoy."

Raye snorted. "Yeah, you guys better eat before Serena decides she can no longer cage the beast and decides to eat it for you. She could probably clear the entire table in five minutes flat."

Serenity's tongue made a _"Thhbb" _sound as she blew a raspberry at Raye and the fiery priestess returned the favor.

Amy sat her teacup down with a sharp _clink_. "Don't start, you two! Once you get going you guys go on for hours, and we have important matters to take care of today. Right, Mina?"

Mina jumped as if she had been startled out of a thought. "Oh, yeah, right." Then she focused her attention on the four men that had just taken a seat at the table. Her normally calm blue eyes gleamed with a ferocious light.

Nephrite shivered a little and murmured. "Is it my imagination, or does Venus look a little…unbalanced?"

Jadeite glanced up from the plate he was piling high with food to take a look at the still staring blonde woman. "Woah! She definitely doesn't look like she's firing on all cylinders."

"Maybe she developed a disorder later in life," Zoicite commented as he reached for a biscuit.

"Gentlemen, please, keep your comments to yourselves," Kunzite groaned.

Endymion chuckled. "You guys may think that you're prepared, but you have no idea what kind of world you're about to walk into."

Those ominous words made the four men apprehensive and they finished their breakfast in strained silence. When they were done Mina turned to them with what could only be described as a diabolical grin.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked as she picked up a black leather bag that had been resting by her feet.

It was all they could do to keep from running.

* * *

_**Tokyo – Present Day**_

"Coming!" Ilene Tsukino called after she heard the doorbell ring. She set the laundry basket that she had been carrying on a chair in the entry hall and hurried to the door. She opened it wide and smiled at the young man on her doorstep. "Why hello, Darien. I haven't seen you around much lately."

Darien smiled his most charming smile. "Hi, Mrs. Tsukino. I'm afraid I've been busy with school a lot lately. These are for you." He pulled his hand from behind his back to present her with a colorful bouquet of wildflowers and baby's breath that he had manifested for her.

Ilene giggled, sounding a lot like her daughter, as she took them. "Now I see why Serena holds on to you so tightly. You know how to make even this middle aged woman feel young again."

Darien laughed. "Well you certainly don't look old enough to have a daughter that is almost seventeen. If I didn't know who you were and saw you and Serena walking down the street together I would swear that you were sisters."

"You're such a sweet talker," Ilene cooed as she patted his cheek. "Now why don't you go on up and check on Serena. She should be almost ready by now."

Darien grinned and headed for the stairs, reveling in the freedom he had here whenever Serena's dad wasn't around. In fact, he usually tried to plan it where he picked Serena up before her dad got home whenever possible because if Ken Tsukino was at home Darien found himself either standing awkwardly in the entry hall or sitting in the living room under the overprotective man's dark glares.

"Hey, Darien!" Serena's thirteen-year-old brother called out as blew by him down the stairs. "You here to pick Meatball Head up?"

Darien chuckled. It still peeved Serena to this day that both Sammy and Raye had adopted the nickname that he had come up with for her back when they first met so readily. The two of them still used it on a regular basis although he rarely ever called her that anymore.

"Sammy! What have I told you about running down the stairs? One of these days you're going to fall and break a bone or crack your skull," Ilene scolded from where she had just picked up her laundry basket again.

Sammy snorted. "You must have me confused with Serena, mom. The klutz queen is the one that you have to worry about. Unlike her, I know how to put one foot in front of the other without falling flat on my face. I'm going to Jeremy's house. A bunch of us are getting together to play Halo." The front door banged behind him as he ran out.

Ilene shook her head and sighed before looking up at Darien, who was still standing halfway up the staircase. "I may as well give up. I have honestly tried to instill good manners in my children, but sometimes I think I'm beating a dead horse. I think Serena might be finally catching on, but she still has her moments too. I am a firm believer that having children can be the both the greatest blessing and the biggest headache you can have in life." Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Darien laughed quietly to himself as he continued up the stairs. He completely agreed with his future mother-in-law. Having had the opportunity to meet his future daughter and spending quite a bit of time with her, he had a fairly decent idea of what impending fatherhood held in store for him.

He pictured his and Serena's future daughter for a moment; her long pink hair that she wore just like her mother's and her bright maroon eyes that shown with a healthy amount of common sense. She could act politely when she wanted to, but she was stubborn when there was something that she wanted and her moods could change quicker than a switch being thrown. It was a classic Serena trait.

But he had time before he had to worry about any of that. Right now the biggest thing on his plate was gathering up his beautiful girlfriend and escorting her to a pool party where they could celebrate the beginning of summer with their friends.

He came to a stop in front of the first door at the top of the stairs. He raised a hand to knock, but paused when he heard her voice through the tiny crack that the door had been left open.

"Honestly, Luna! I think I see now why Amy and Amara prefer to wear their hair so short," Serena was grumbling. "This mop of mine has really gotten to the point where it's way past ridiculous. Maybe I should get it cut. You know, a new look for the summer."

Darien felt a moment of panic. Serena's long, golden hair was one of her most defining features. He had lost count of the number of hours he had spent over the last few years doing nothing but combing his fingers through the sunshine colored silk. He couldn't picture her without it, and he definitely couldn't conjure up an image of her with hair as short as Amy's or Amara's.

He didn't stop to think as he burst into her room. "Don't you dare cut your hair!" he almost yelled.

Luna let out a screech as she jumped about three feet into the air from where she had been curled up at the foot of Serena's bed. The feline shot him a murderous glare as she landed in an undignified heap and looked like she would like to lay into him for scaring at least two of her nine lives out of her, but since they were not alone in the house and Ilene may hear her she had to settle for muttering, "Well I never!"

Serena giggled from where she was sitting at her vanity table and looked to be in the process of twisting her hair up into an intricate knot. "I've heard of dramatic entrances before, Darien, but I believe that one takes the cake. What were you doing eavesdropping outside my door anyway?"

He flushed at her mock scolding. "I wasn't eavesdropping. I was about to knock when I heard you say something about cutting your hair off. And don't try to act all innocent! You had to have sensed that I was here."

She shrugged and went back to twisting her hair. "Of course I knew! But you usually spend at least ten minutes flirting with my mom when you first get here, so I thought I still had some time."

Darien looked like he was strangling. "I do not flirt with your mother!"

Serena smiled smugly at her reflection as she tucked the loose ends of her hair into the knot and snapped an elastic band around it. She shook her head a few times to make sure it would hold. "There! That should keep it out of my way while I swim." Then she turned to wag a finger at him. "You do too flirt with mom! What kind of flowers did you magically present her with today, hmm?"

He looked down at the floor, knowing he was busted. "It was just some wildflowers."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Mm hmm! And I'm sure you told her how young she looks and how she could pass for my sister instead of my mom."

His eyes snapped up to hers, sparkling mischievously. "And you accuse me of eavesdropping?"

She shrugged. "Hey! I can't help it if that amazing voice of yours carries up the stairs so easily."

He smirked and crossed the room to pull her up from her seat. "My amazing voice, huh?"

She smacked his arm lightly. "Don't go getting a big head! You know what I mean. Tuxedo Mask wouldn't have been half as dashing if he had a whiny voice like Melvin."

"I'm glad I met with your approval," he murmured, dropping his voice an octave and inserting the husky undertone that had stolen her heart when she had only been fourteen. Then he pulled her close to him and kissed her lips.

"Oh no! There they go again," Luna grumbled and smacked a paw over her closed eyes.

"Mmm…" Serena hummed in pleasure as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips tightly against his. But when he nipped at her lower lip she pulled back instead of opening to him like she normally did. Then she let go of him and stepped out of his arms. "We should probably get going. Everybody will probably already be there."

Darien arched a brow in shock as he watched her turn away and begin gathering her things. Serena had never pulled away from one of his kisses so willingly before. Usually he was the one that had to pull away from her when things started to get too heated, except for their encounter in his bathroom the other night. That was why he had kept a bit of distance between them the last few days; he had been trying to let the beast inside him time to settle down some before he was alone with her again. And now here she was being the one to play things cool when lately she had been crawling all over him every chance she got. Had he missed something? Was she mad at him?

She didn't seem mad as she shoved a change of clothes, a bottle of sun block, and a large towel into her duffle bag before plopping a pair of pink tinted sunglasses on her nose. In fact, she was jabbering away in her usual cheerful way as told him about how her last day had been and some tentative plans that she and the girls had come up with for the summer.

Then a hand was waving in front of his face. "Darien, are you even listening to me?" Serena demanded, sounding a little irritated.

He crashed back to reality. "Sorry. I guess I was thinking about that test I took earlier. Man! That thing was murder." He hoped she wouldn't call him on the lie.

If she noticed his hesitant voice she ignored it. "Well stop dwelling on it. We're on vacation!" Then she bent over to fish a pair of white flip-flops out from under her bed.

Darien almost groaned as the animal inside him roared back to life with renewed vigor. The cut off shorts she was wearing didn't cover any more than her fuku did when she was transformed and they rode up dangerously high as she stuck her butt up in the air. Evidently the last few days hadn't been enough to purge his system after all. It was going to be a long afternoon, and he was grateful that others would be around them to keep him from molesting her the way he had the other night. And it wasn't like he had never seen her in her modest, one piece, pink bathing suit before. He could handle this.

At least that was what he kept telling himself over and over in his head as Serena turned to him with a bright smile and flung her bag over her shoulder. "Okay, I'm ready. Now let's get going!"

* * *

_**Elysian**_

"Voila!" Mina said triumphantly as she spun the chair around. "Well, what do you think?"

Kunzite stared at himself in the mirror for a moment as he examined his new look. Up until today he had never taken much notice that his future self wore his hair in a much shorter and conservative style than he did, but when Mina had whipped out an arsenal of scissors, clippers, and combs, that reality had come falling down on his head. At first he had been adamant about not letting her touch his long, platinum locks, but once the other guys had given in and they had turned out decent looking he had finally relented. The fact that Mina had batted her baby blues at him innocently had swayed him as well.

He reached up to touch the strands of hair that know brushed his neck instead of falling just past his shoulders. As promised she had left some length, knowing that he would be uncomfortable if he lost all his hair. And she had left the front long as well so that his fringe still fell over his eyes. All in all, he was impressed.

"Not bad," he finally said. "I think I could get used to it." Then an evil glint entered his eyes. "I still say you should have shaved Jadeite bald. He's the only one that didn't have to go through a dramatic change."

Mina shuddered as she began packing away her supplies. "I'm glad he already kept his hair short. Curly hair on a guy can be a real pain to deal with. Thank goodness all he needed was a trim."

She looked over at the other three men that were standing nearby to give them one last perusal and admire her handiwork. "At least the four of you won't look out of place now when you go to Tokyo. As long as you all learn how to use your closets properly you should be fine."

"Great!" Raye snapped from where she was sitting. "Can we please go now? I've got things to do. I don't see why you insisted on dragging us all here anyway when you clearly had everything under control."

"Amen!" Lita seconded as she looked up from filing her nails. "I've got a full day planned, and I sure don't need to waste my time sitting around here."

Jadeite snickered. "What, have you two got hot dates planned?"

Raye's sizzling violet eyes pinned him in place. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I know I would," Nephrite muttered, but was careful to keep his voice low where no one could hear him.

"Amy!" Lita called out as she stood up. "Pull your head out of that computer! We're outta here, girlfriend!"

Amy's blue eyes blinked behind her reading glasses as she looked up from whatever she was intently studying on her Mercury computer. "Oh! Are we done already?"

"What can I say, I work quick," Mina quipped and waved her hand toward the generals. "What do you think of my models?"

Amy gave them a quick once over, making sure to not let her eyes linger too long on Zoicite's new, shoulder length do. "They look very nice. They should have no problems fitting right in."

Lita snorted. "Looking the part is one thing. Acting the part is whole different can of worms." But she did sneak a covert glance at Nephrite, who was now sporting a longish, slightly shaggy looking haircut.

"Well, my work here is done," Mina said as she shouldered her bag of tricks. "Good luck, gentlemen. I hope you enjoy your new lives."

With that, all four scouts filed from the room without another word. As they were walking out the double doors, Serenity and Endymion walked in with the four future generals. The guys from the past watched intently for any interaction between their future selves and the scouts to see if they could get some kind of an idea about the relationships between them, but the two groups passed each other without speaking a word or even looking at each other. They had each pestered their future selves many times about how things stood between them and the women that were the reincarnations of their soul mates, but they had remained stubbornly closed mouthed.

Serenity clapped her hands together in excitement. "Oh, don't you four look handsome! I knew Mina wouldn't let me down. She never has before. Now you look ready to take on the world."

"Hey! How come you never pay us compliments like that?" Jed complained.

Serenity stuck her nose up in the air. "I seriously doubt your ego is suffering from any lack of compliments, Jed."

Neph chuckled. "He's so full of himself that he probably sits in front of a mirror for at least an hour a day and compliments himself."

"Knock it off!" Kunz growled, breaking the two men up before their snarling could turn into anything more. Then he turned to face his past self. "Are you ready to do this?"

Kunzite shrugged. "As ready as we're ever going to be, I suppose."

"Oh, I'm going to miss you guys so much!" Serenity exclaimed.

Endymion rolled his eyes at her antics. "They're not really going anywhere, Sere. But if you want to hold on to the generals we have, then these forms of them have to return to the past."

She answered his eye roll with one of her own. "I know that, Darien! I may be a blonde, but I'm not that blonde!"

"Blondes have more fun anyway," Jed and Jadeite said together at the same time, making the whole group laugh.

"I'm still going to miss you," the queen insisted and took each of the four younger men by surprise when she suddenly ran around and gave each of them a fierce hug. "Good luck, guys! Are we ready for Pluto now?"

Endymion nodded. "I think we are. It's time for them to return."

Serenity closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them with a smile. "She'll be here in just a minute."

"I guess we better take care of one last piece of business then," Kunz said, gesturing to the large, thick manila envelope he held in his hands. Each of the other future generals held one identical to it. "Gentlemen, these are essentially your keys to your new lives. They hold everything you need to have an identity in the modern world: birth certificates, driver's licenses, passports, credit cards, bank account information, and college degrees. Don't open them until you get to where you are going, and for god's sake don't lose them. Sailor Pluto is very good at creating new identities and securing documents, but I'm sure it will rub her the wrong way if she has to try and get replacements."

"You would be correct," Pluto replied as she appeared before them. "Making people suddenly exist in a time where they didn't previously is not the easiest thing in the world to accomplish, especially on a scale this large."

"And we all appreciate every bit of what you do," Serenity reassured her. "Now I guess it's time for us to say goodbye."

Each of Endymion's generals stepped forward to shake hands with their former selves and hand them their packet before wishing them good luck. Then the king and queen both gave them their final well wishes before Sailor Pluto whisked them away through a portal. In what seemed to be only a few seconds they arrived in what appeared to be a large entertainment room.

"Where are we?" Nephrite grumbled.

Zoicite cleared his throat nervously. "I think the more important question is when are we."

Pluto smirked slightly. "You are now back in Tokyo. It has been six days here since the curse on you was lifted. The prince, princess, and the scouts freed you on Saturday, and it is now Friday afternoon. As for this place, all I can say is welcome home. This is your newly remodeled penthouse that your future selves took the liberty of arranging for you. They bought the top two floors of this building and had it completely redone. The bottom floor here has all of the common living areas while the upstairs has been divided into four wings where each of you have your own suite of rooms. There are also several guest rooms and baths."

"Just how big is this place?" Jadeite wondered in awe.

Pluto shrugged. "Let's just say that several families used to live in the space you four now have to yourselves. You're lucky that your future selves are very rich men. They have spared no expense in making sure you are well set to make your way in this new life. I'm sure all the explanations you need will be in the packets you received. Now if you will excuse me, I must return to my post. There are a few things happening that I have been keeping a close eye on."

"Thank you for everything, Pluto," Kunzite told her gratefully.

She inclined her head. "It was my pleasure. Now I just hope you four don't let me down. I'm not supposed to meddle with the flow of time, and I don't really see this as meddling, but if you guys wander down to the Crown Arcade about 8:00 tonight, that might be a good place for you to start." And then she vanished.

The four men stood there in silence for a moment before big grins appeared on their faces and they began tearing into their envelopes like kids on Christmas morning.

* * *

"It's about time," Raye grumbled as Serena and Darien came through the gate into Mina's backyard. "I was about to start burning up the phone line."

"Nice to see you too, Raye," Serena grouched back. "I said we'd get here as soon as we could. Geez! And I hope you have sun block on since you're lying in the sun like that or you're going to be as red as that bikini you're wearing."

The raven-haired girl flipped her a rude hand gesture before rolling over onto her stomach on the lounge chair she was on. "I can take the heat. You're the one that usually turns out looking like a lobster."

"Not this time!" Serena crowed triumphantly. "I bought the highest SPF sun block I could find. This stuff is supposed to be waterproof and sweat proof. There is no way I'm getting burnt and then have to go through that icky peeling stage again."

"Ooo, you're here!" Mina squealed as she tripped out the glass patio doors that led from her kitchen. "You're just in time too. Andrew called and said that he was bringing stuff so he can grill out. So we're turning this into a swimming party and a barbeque. Why aren't you in your swimsuit yet? You're wasting precious summer time."

Serena laughed. "It's on under my clothes, Mina. Just give me a minute, okay? I just got here." She followed Darien across the patio where he sat down her bag of goodies. She waved to Lita, who was lounging on a raft in the middle of the pool, and to Amy, who was gliding through the water with long, even strokes.

"How's the water feel?" Darien asked Mina as he sat down in a chair and began removing his tennis shoes.

Mina sighed dramatically. "It feels wonderful. It's not too cool, but it's not too warm either. It's just right for a hot day like today."

"Great! I can't wait to take a relaxing swim after the stress of the last couple of…" his voice trailed off and his eyes bugged out as he caught sight of his girlfriend, who had just shimmied out of her shorts and whipped her t-shirt over her head. "Serena! Where is your bathing suit?" he choked out.

She giggled. "This is my bathing suit, silly! I bought it at the mall last night. Do you like it?" She stuck a pose.

"Like" was not exactly the word he would have used. He absolutely hated it, yet loved it at the same time. Granted, the black bikini she was wearing was still fairly modest as far as bikinis went, but it still revealed a lot more than the pink one piece he had been expecting.

"It…It's nice," he finally managed to croak out. He was so busy trying to keep his eyes adverted from the swell of her cleavage and her toned, flat stomach that he missed the exalted look that she shared with Mina.

Then Serena pulled her bottle of sun block from her bag and began lathering herself up in it. Darien tried to keep his eyes from her, but he lost the battle and hungrily drank in the sight of her long, slender limbs as she smoothed the lotion over them. When she propped a foot up on a chair to pay attention to her leg, he literally had to grip the arms of his chair to keep from jumping up, throwing her over his shoulder, and hauling her off to his apartment; more specifically, his bedroom.

Mina had begun to fidget. "Are you almost ready, Serena?"

She laughed. "Almost. Go ahead and get in. I'll be right there as soon as I get Darien to rub some lotion on my back. That's always the hardest spot to reach."

'_No! No! No!' _his mind screamed. He did not want to touch her right now while he had all of these dark and perverted thoughts running through his head. It was definitely not a good idea. He opened his mouth to call Mina back and tell her to put Serena's sun block on her, but the bubbly blonde was already diving off the side and into the pool.

Before he could think, Serena had shoved the bottle into his hand and had perched on his knees.

"You don't mind doing my back, do you, sweetie?" she cooed innocently. "I sure don't want to get sunburned again like I did last summer. Rini laughed at me for a week over that one."

He cleared his throat. "No, I don't mind at all." Then he smeared the lotion on her as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the softness of her skin under his fingers. "There, all done," he told her the moment he had finished.

She jumped up and then spun around to lean down and kiss his cheek lightly. "Thank you. Now hurry up and get ready."

He realized that he was still sitting there with one shoe on and one shoe off and still in his white t-shirt and baggy, khaki cargo shorts over his swim trunks. As he was searching for a way to tell her to go on ahead without him so he could have a moment to pull himself together, the most wonderful thing happened. His phone rang.

"You go ahead," he said, waving her toward the pool. "I'll be there in a minute." Then he answered his phone to find Andrew on the other end asking him to come out front and help him with the food he'd brought. Grateful for the reprieve, he made his escape.

"Whoa, dude! What's wrong with you?" Andrew asked as Darien joined him by the trunk of his prized red Mustang that he had scrimped and saved all through high school to buy.

"Nothing's wrong," Darien said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Andrew pressed. "Because your face is redder than a cherry tomato."

"I said I'm fine," Darien practically snarled.

Andrew backed off. "If you say so. Anyway, I brought stuff for hamburgers and hotdogs. There are also chips and dip and some other snacks."

Darien eyed the bags critically. "It looks like you brought enough for a small army."

Andrew laughed. "Of course I did! You forget that I feed you lot practically every day and I know how much food can be put away, especially with Serena around. I just don't see how a little thing like her can pack away food like she does and stay so tiny."

Darien felt his face flame as he thought about that trim little body. "It's probably because she's a sailor scout."

"Hmm…" Andrew mused as he gathered up two of the bags. "I never thought of it like that. You're probably right. None of those girls ever seem to change no matter how many milkshakes, sundaes, hamburgers, and plates of cheese fries they manage to inhale."

Darien silently disagreed as he grabbed the other two bags. He was fairly certain that Serena never could have gotten away with wearing that slick, black bikini she was currently sporting back when he first met her when she was fourteen. Not that he could really compare her body then to her body now. Usually she was hidden either under her concealing school uniform or her regular clothes. Even her fuku kept a lot hidden. It showcased her long legs beautifully, but the modest neckline and large bow in the center of her chest did a good job of camouflaging the rest of her assets.

"Hey, careful!" Andrew complained as Darien used his elbow to bang down the trunk's lid. "I just waxed this baby so the sun won't fade the paint. Unlike you, I don't have a nice parking garage to keep her in."

Darien rolled his eyes and laughed. "I'll sure be glad when Rita gets back. I worry about you sometimes. You spend way too much time lavishing attention on this car."

Andrew shrugged. "I have to do something to fill the time when I'm not working or studying. Besides, do you know how many hours I had to slave away at the arcade to buy her? I was determined to not end up with some run down hunk of junk. I wanted something new. And you don't have to worry about my sanity; it's only two more months until I have my girl back home where she belongs."

Darien shook his head in bemusement. His best friend's relationship with his long time girlfriend had always confused him a little. Not that Rita wasn't a nice girl, she was. But Darien had always thought that Andrew would end up with someone a little more vivacious and liked to laugh as much as he did. Quiet Rita always seemed to fade into the background when overshadowed by the boisterous Andrew. But Andrew was crazy about her, and as long as he was happy that was all that mattered.

The two made their way into the backyard. Raye had abandoned her sunbathing and had joined the other girls in the water where they were all splashing and laughing together. They cheered at the sight of Andrew's arrival with his arsenal of food.

The sandy haired man chuckled. "I wonder if I would gotten such an enthusiastic greeting if I had shown up without the food."

"Probably not," Darien snickered as they entered Mina's kitchen and set the bags on a countertop.

"Well I hate to break their hearts, but I'm going for a swim before I get roped into standing over a hot grill," Andrew declared as he slid the items that needed to be kept cold into the refrigerator. Then he turned toward the glass doors and his mouth fell open.

After about ten seconds he turned back to Darien with a smirk. "Man! Now I see why you're so reluctant about leaving home again. You lucky dog! When did Serena grow up so much?"

Darien looked out to see that Serena had climbed out of the pool and was standing on the side. Droplets of water clung to her skin and sparkled like diamonds in the sun.

He groaned inwardly. Yep! This was definitely going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

"This is un-freaking-believable!" Jadeite almost squealed in excitement as he threw himself back onto the enormous king sized bed and sank into the plushy, deep copper colored comforter. He lay still, but his eyes were busy darting around, drinking in the sights of his new room.

He had been flabbergasted when he had entered his suite and had found the sitting room furnished with comfortable, casual furniture and sporting a warm color theme and an entertainment center that was out of this world. He hadn't thought that anything could match it, until he entered the bedroom and felt like he had walked straight into a fire pit.

The walls were deep red that were complemented by all of the accessories in copper, burnt orange, and even a few specks of dark blue like you would find at the center of a flame. Just walking into the room made him feel warm and toasty and right at home. He even had two large, open fireplaces, one in the sitting room, and one in the bedroom.

They were exactly the kind of rooms that he thought Raye would enjoy, if he could ever get her to spend a few minutes alone with him without her trying to set him on fire. He grinned as he thought of her. Reincarnation or not, she was still just as beautiful and fiery tempered as the Princess Rei, Sailor Mars, of his fuzzy, distant memories.

He rolled over onto his stomach to look at the clock on the bedside table. It was 6:00. There were still two hours to go before the 8:00 time that Sailor Pluto had cryptically informed them about. He knew from listening to Raye and the others talk during the week that he had hung around as a spirit that the Crown Arcade was a place that they frequented. Evidently Pluto had been informing them of an opportune time to announce their reappearance and where they could find the others. So perhaps that meant that he still had a chance to win Raye's affections despite the fact that she acted like he repulsed her.

He already knew that Kunzite and Zoicite would probably have no troubles in capturing the hearts of the fair Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury. They had already been getting along extremely well with each other before they had gone into the depths of Beryl's lair to free them, and he had seen them practically clinging to each other before Pluto had separated them to take them to Elysian.

But he and Nephrite hadn't had it so easily. Mars and Jupiter were by far the most stubborn of Princess Serenity's scouts. They had been the last to crack and give into their emotions back during the Silver Millennium; and it looked like this time would be no different.

He jumped up from the bed and left his suite, striding quickly down the hall to where it widened at the landing that led to the stairs. He turned down the wing to his right and few seconds later was knocking on a door made of highly polished, dark mahogany.

"Come in," Nephrite's voice called out, and he stepped into a room paneled in wood the color of rich chocolate. He found his fellow general sitting in a daze on an overstuffed couch of deep forest green.

"Wow!" Jadeite joked. "I feel like I've stepped off the beaten path and have gotten lost in the woods." He took in the calming atmosphere of the woodsy tones. Everything was either some shade of brown or green, interspersed here and there with a splash of warm maroon.

Nephrite grinned. "It does have a sort of outdoor feel to it, doesn't it? If I didn't know any better I would say that Jupiter designed this herself."

"My rooms are the same way," Jadeite said. "They look like they would fit Mars perfectly. And that got me to thinking about what Pluto told us earlier. Obviously she was telling us where to find the girls. And by looking at these rooms and the way the future forms of them came to help us out, I really believe that there is a chance of working things out between us. Why else would Pluto be urging us to go and track them down?"

Nephrite smirked. "You know, for a blonde you're not half bad sometimes. I had thought about that myself. Kunzite and Zoicite seemed to have already reeled in Venus and Mercury, but you and I seem to have a challenge before us now."

Jadeite groaned as he sank into a chair that matched the couch. "Raye is just as stubborn as her former incarnation was. She's not going to make this easy for me."

A chuckle escaped Nephrite. "Neither will Lita. We're going to have to find some way to win our princesses over."

Jadeite shrugged. "Well, we have a few things in our favor now. We're familiar with the world that they know and we're also rich and about to embark on a business venture that I hope will prove to be very lucrative."

"But it will take more than that," Nephrite cautioned. "Material things won't matter to them as much as emotional support. We have to find a way to crack them."

"That's true," Jadeite muttered, and the two of them lapsed into silence for several minutes.

The quiet moment was broken by another knock at the door. After Nephrite bade them to enter, Kunzite and Zoicite stepped into the room.

Kunzite took up a position in the middle of the room. "Zoicite and I were just talking, and we figured the two of you needed to be brought in as well. Even though we have been set up in these new lives, we still have a choice to make. We can choose to stay here, or we can go our separate ways to pursue our lives the way we want to. Darien told us that just because we served him when he was prince did not mean that we have to stay here in Tokyo now, and King Endymion said something similar when he said that just because we work for him in the future doesn't mean that we are stuck here."

"Have you decided what you're going to do?" Nephrite asked.

Kunzite nodded. "I'm staying. I like these living arrangements and I like this city. My future self has everything lined up where I can start a building and real estate investment firm with minimal fuss. I also want to stay close to Mina. I don't know what our future relationship is like, but I'm going to pursue her in hopes that we can be together."

"I'm staying too," Zoicite declared. "I will be a silent investor in Kunzite's company, but I want to pursue medicine since Pluto was so nice to arrange for me to have a medical degree. I also plan to try and win Amy's heart."

Nephrite grinned. "Good! Jed and I were just discussing the same thing before you came in. I don't think either one of us have any plans for going anywhere either. I want to stay and help get the company started. And although I know it's probably going to cause me sufficient physical pain, I'm going to chase Lita until she agrees to give me a chance."

Jadeite sighed in a dreamy kind of way. "I know I'll be in pain. Raye is liable to roast every bit of flesh from my bones, but it will totally be worth it in the end if she agrees to give me another shot."

Kunzite smirked. "Maybe it will go easier on you if you tone things down a little instead of running around telling lame jokes, making perverted comments, and trying to grab her ass."

"But isn't it important to be myself in front of her?" Jadeite whined. "She's my soul mate and she already knows how I am. So I shouldn't have to change who I am."

"Nobody expects you to change," Zoicite said in his best doctor's voice. "That would be asking for the miraculous. But in the beginning it might be best if you try to act like a gentleman toward her until she feels comfortable around you again. The same goes for you Nephrite. If you are too overbearing and domineering Lita will fight back. Both of those girls have gone through emotional trauma in this life and will need to be handled carefully."

"Thanks for the psychoanalysis, Dr. Phil," Nephrite sneered. "I really didn't need you to remind me that Lita has suffered tremendous loss and loneliness. I'm well aware of that. And I would never be anything other than gentlemanly toward her."

"Except for when you get jealous or suffer from one of your macho man moments," Kunzite retorted.

"So are we going to take Pluto's advice and go babe hunting at the arcade?" Jadeite asked excitedly.

Kunzite rolled his eyes. "Mars is going to end up killing you. I can already see it. But yes, I am going to go to the arcade like she said. In fact, I'm thinking of leaving soon and getting there early to scope out the place so I can come up with a plan about the best way to approach them. I also wanted to show you guys what I found in the kitchen."

He held out four keys. "These were on the counter with a note that said to take the elevator down to B2 and go into the garage marked #4. I guess our future selves arranged cars for us as well."

"Sweet!" Jadeite exclaimed. "I just hope I don't get stuck with some dinky little car. I'm trading it off if I did. There is no way I'm driving some economy piece of crap after having the opportunity to drive that bad ass Ferrari in the future. What are we waiting for? Let's go see what we've got! Today has been better than every Christmas and birthday I've ever had all rolled up into one!"

"He is so dead!" Nephrite muttered as he and the other generals followed the excited blonde.

Zoicite nodded slowly. "She's going to shish kabob him."

Kunzite chuckled evilly. "Well we'll roast marshmallows over his burning corpse and have s'mores to celebrate his passing when she's done with him."

"I heard that!" Jadeite snapped irritably. "I'll prove all of you wrong and worm my way into Raye's affections…eventually. My lady is just temperamental and it may take a little time."

They took the elevator down to the second level of the basement and found the door marked #4. Luckily Kunzite had brought the note with him, because the door required a security code in order to be opened. Lights came on automatically once the door opened and highlighted the four black vehicles that were parked inside a garage large enough to hold twelve. They were all shocked into awed silence.

In a daze, Kunzite wandered over to the Highlander. It had everything he could have wished for and more; plush leather seats, a sunroof, and so many other things that he didn't even know where to begin.

Nephrite wasted no time jumping up into the cab of the giant Titan 4x4. It looked like it could mow over anything that got in its way and could go from city streets to off road in the blink of an eye.

Zoicite sat behind the wheel of a Mercedes, admiring the sleek and graceful lines of the car. It was conservative, yet held a slightly sporty edge to it. It was just the kind of vehicle that he would have picked for himself. Then he chuckled softly as he realized that he had picked this car for himself, at least his future self had.

Jadeite almost had tears in his eyes as he carefully traced the subtle, custom painted flames that adorned the sides of the black Ferrari that was either the exact same car he had driven in the future or a pretty damn good replica. "Oh, hell yeah!" he muttered softly.

* * *

"You know, you guys didn't have to come with me," Andrew said as he navigated his Mustang down the busy street. "There's no reason why the party had to stop just because I got called into work."

"It's no biggie. The party was winding down anyway," Lita said from the passenger seat. "I'm actually a little tired from all of that swimming."

"And catching a ride with you puts me closer to home so I don't have to walk as far," Amy piped up from the backseat.

"Did you guys want me to drop you by your places first?" Andrew asked cordially.

Lita shook her head. "Nah! I think I'll come in and have a milkshake before I head home. I think that's what the other girls have planned too."

"A vanilla milkshake does sound good," Amy mused.

Andrew shook his head in amusement. Then the curiosity bug bit him. "So what do you guys think is up between Serena and Darien? Are they fighting again?"

Lita frowned. "I don't think they are, but they were acting funny. They seemed fine when they first got to Mina's. They were laughing and joking. But then it was like someone flipped a switch. Darien got quiet and moody looking and Serena got crabby. So maybe they did have an argument that none of us overheard."

Amy sighed. "It's probably just leftover stress. It's been a busy week for all of us. And Darien just finished his last exam this morning. Medical school is no cakewalk so he's probably still wound up over that and Serena is picking up on his mood. Things will level out once they've had a little down time."

"I sure hope so," Andrew said as he pulled his car into the arcade's parking lot. "I've gotten used to them being all disgustingly mushy with each other and I sure don't want to see them go back to fighting again like they used to."

The three of them got out of the car as Darien's red BMW pulled up next to them. Raye and Mina were laughing as they got out of the backseat, but Serena looked like she was ready to explode as she jumped out of the passenger side and slammed the door. A stoic faced Darien climbed out of the car a few seconds later.

"Did you have to slam the door that hard?" he almost snarled. "I paid good money for this car."

Serena leveled a chilling glare at him over the roof of the car. "Oh! Forgive me, _your highness_! Don't get your underwear twisted in a knot! I didn't hurt your precious baby!"

Darien raked a hand through his hair. "What is wrong with you?"

"Me?" she screeched. "What is wrong with me? For someone who is supposed to be _sooo_ super smart, you can be a huge idiot sometimes, Darien Shields! You know what, I don't even want you to talk to me right now! I'm pissed at you!"

"Holy shit! What did you do, Darien?" Raye muttered as she watched her normally happy friend stomp toward the arcade.

He threw his hands up in the air. "I didn't do anything! I don't know what's the matter with her. Maybe she's PMSing or something."

"You better not have done anything to hurt her," Raye warned. She and Serena may bump heads a lot, but she was fiercely protective of the bubbly blonde and would bring down a world of suffering on anyone that did harm to her friend, even if he was the stinking prince of Earth.

She was turning to follow Serena when something, or rather somebody caught her eye. There was a man across the street looking into a shop window. His back was to her, but she could make out the gleam of golden curls under the streetlight and the nice looking red button down and black slacks he was wearing. He made her think of Jadeite.

She shuddered. That damn man had been popping in and out of her mind at random moments all week despite her determination to not think about him. The last thing she needed was to start seeing him everywhere she went. That would suck.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Mina asked her softly.

She shrugged. "I'm fine. I've just had this weird feeling all afternoon and it's starting to get to me."

"You too?" Amy said. "I thought it was just me. I've had a funny feeling too."

"Me three," Lita replied. "Like right now, I have that tickling sensation on the back of my neck like someone's watching me."

Mina wisely kept her mouth shut. She knew exactly what her friends were feeling. Since she was attuned to all things that dealt with love and soul mates, she had sensed the exact moment that Kunzite had returned to this time. She had also been able to see the soul bonds that had sprang to life around each of her friends that signaled the return of their soul mates as well. In fact, she could sense that Kunzite was somewhere close by. But if he wanted to see her then he could come to her. She wasn't going to go chasing after him. She did have some dignity after all.

The girls trailed after Darien and Andrew into the arcade. Darien went to the counter with Andrew while they joined Serena, who was fuming in silence in their regular booth.

"Okay! What gives?" Raye demanded as she slid in next to Serena. "What did Darien do to get you into such a pissy mood?"

Serena sniffed and stuck her nose up in the air. "I don't want to talk about him right now. I just want to get some sugar therapy going. Lizzy saw us coming and already started on our shakes."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Amy asked softly. "It may make you feel better."

Lita nodded. "She's right. It's not good to bottle things up inside."

"Someone should tell _him_ that!" Serena growled as she threw a glare toward her boyfriend, who was now sitting at the counter talking to Andrew and sipping on a coffee. "Trying to get anything out of him is worse than pulling teeth!"

"Ahh," Mina sighed. "So it is the illustrious prince that is the crux of the matter.

Serena snorted. "Illustrious prince my ass! He's nothing but a closed mouthed jerk! If I thought it would do any good I would transform and bop him over the head with my moon tier. Maybe that would get his attention, because nothing else I try seems to be working."

Raye snickered. "Is that what's wrong? Are you feeling neglected lately?"

A hurt look crossed Serena's face. "Please don't make fun of me right now, Raye. I'm having a crisis. I feel like Darien's pulling away from me and I keep racking my brain to figure out if I've done something wrong." She laid her head down on the table.

Amy reached over and patted the blonde head. "Serena, I'm sure you haven't done anything. This has just been a stressful week. Things will get better now that summer is here."

"That's right," Lita said consolingly. "You and Darien probably just need to spend some alone time together, that's all."

'_Easier said than done,' _Serena thought miserably to herself as she remembered the horribly long afternoon that she had just suffered through. What was supposed to be a fun swimming party had turned into a disaster.

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

Serena smiled as she watched Darien dive into the pool. She swam over to where she could see him resurfacing and was only a few feet away when his head broke the surface of the water.

She giggled. "It feels great, doesn't it?"

He returned her smile, but it seemed a little stiff. "Yeah. It's refreshing."

She nodded. "It's nice and relaxing after the busy week we've had. But now we have the whole summer ahead of us and will be able to spend lots of time together. In fact, I was wondering if it would be okay if I stayed over at your place tonight. We could order pizza and watch movies and have a little alone time. I've missed you this week."

He forced a chuckle. "We've seen each other everyday."

She sighed. "You know what I mean. We've been busy with everyone else almost nonstop since before we made the trip to the Arctic. I just want to spend some quality time with just us."

His expression softened just a bit. "I know things have been crazy recently, and I'm going to make it up to you, but tonight's not a good idea. I have some errands and stuff I need to take care of tomorrow. But maybe we can go out tomorrow night."

When she didn't answer he finally looked up to see her frowning at him. "What's wrong?"

She still didn't say anything, but her body drifted closer to him. Her frown deepened. "Am I contagious or something?"

"What are you talking about?" he snapped back, sounding a little harsh.

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm talking about the fact that I feel like we've been playing tag the whole time we've been talking. Every time I move a few inches toward you, you move back like you're afraid that you're going to catch something from me."

"Don't be ridiculous!" he protested weakly. "Hey! It looks like the others are trying to get a volleyball game started. Let's go join them." And he swam away.

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

Serena lifted her head from the table. The rest of the afternoon had been the same way. Every time she got within arm's length of Darien he would move slightly away. Nobody else probably noticed it because he did it so subtly. She hadn't even been sure that he was aware of it until she took him by surprise and climbed onto his back and kissed his cheek.

He had growled at her then, "Knock it off, Serena!"

He'd sounded so angry that she'd avoided him after that. She didn't even speak to him again until they had all gone inside to change clothes and she had run into him as he came out of a bathroom. She had asked him hesitantly if everything was okay, and he had answered shortly that everything was fine before walking away.

That had been when her temper started simmering. Evidently there was something going on inside Darien's mind, but the big idiot was too stubborn to tell her what it was.

Lizzy approached their table, carrying a tray laden with milkshakes and began passing them around. "Hey, Serena, you and Darien aren't fighting, are you? He just asked me to feel you out because he said that you're mad at him and he's scared to come over here until you've cooled down some."

"Cool down! _Cool down!_ I'd like to cool _him _down, the inconsiderate jerk!" Serena grumbled into her milkshake. "If I wasn't in such desperate need of this milkshake for myself I would happily dump it over his head. That would chill him out."

Lizzy laughed. "Dang! He did do something to set you off, didn't he? What happened, did he finish in five minutes and roll over and start snoring?"

Lita, Mina, and Raye joined her in laughing while Amy turned red in the face and looked like she was about to slide under the table in mortification.

"Fine!" Serena screeched. "All of you go ahead and laugh at my misery! It's not like I was going to tell any of you my problems anyway! I'm going home!" Since she was stuck on the inside of the booth she attempted to crawl over the back of the seat.

Raye grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her back down. "Oh, stop taking everything so personally. We we're only joking."

There was a clattering sound as the thankfully empty tray slipped from Lizzy's suddenly slack fingers to fall on the floor. All five girls at the table looked up to see that the red haired girl appeared to have gone completely catatonic.

"Liz! Are you okay?" Serena asked in concern, her previous outrage at Andrew's sister evaporating instantly.

Lizzy nodded slowly. "Do you guys believe that the gods sometimes walk among us? Because I think that four of them just came in the door. Great tuna fish and peanut butter sandwiches! Talk about some hunks! Those guys are _HOT!_ But knowing my luck they'll all turn out to be gay."

Serena peeked over the short dividing wall that separated one row of booths from the other to see these "gods" that had enraptured Lizzy, and a wide grin unfurled on her face. It seemed that her torment at the hands of her friends had now come to an end for the evening.

"Liz," she said in a smug voice. "I can personally guarantee you that those guys are as straight as arrows. Ladies, I do believe that you are about to receive you punishment for laughing at me."

"What are you talking about, Meatball Head?" Raye snapped and half stood from her seat. When her violet eyes connected with the vivid blue of Jadeite's, she quickly sat back down. "Shit! What are they doing here?"

Mina calmly sipped her milkshake. "I thought I felt a change in the air today."

"What are you guys talking about?" Lita demanded as she and Amy both stood to see what the hubbub was about. They both plunked back down a second later with ashen faces.

"You know those guys?" Lizzy asked in disbelief.

Serena was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "We sure do." Then she waved wildly. "Hey guys!"

"Serena! Don't call them over here!" Lita hissed.

"Hail Mary, full of grace…" Raye was muttering.

"Raye," Amy whispered through pale lips. "You're not Catholic."

"I've gone to Catholic school my whole life. Maybe it rubbed off on me," Raye returned in a shaky voice.

"Serena!" Jadeite cried, returning her wave enthusiastically. He ran over and crawled into the empty booth beside them before leaning over the wall and pulling her into a one armed hug. "How you doing, beautiful?"

She giggled. It seemed Jadeite was still as outrageous as ever. "I'm doing good. How about you? When did you guys get back to town?"

"Just this afternoon," he told her. "We took a few hours to get settled into our new place and then decided to come hunt you guys down. You have to come see our new pad sometime. It is way beyond awesome."

Then he fixed his gaze on the dark haired girl next to her. "Raye," he greeted her cordially.

Raye only glanced up for a second. "Jadeite," she returned coolly.

"How have you been?" he continued in the same upbeat and friendly tone.

Raye pursed her lips and looked resolutely in the opposite direction while remaining silent.

Lizzy felt the tension in the air and quickly retrieved her tray before making a fast getaway.

The other generals wandered over, now accompanied by Darien as well.

"And how are you ladies doing this evening?" Kunzite asked smoothly.

Mina took a long pull from her milkshake before smiling sweetly. "We are doing well. I assume your, um…trip was successful."

One corner of his mouth twitched in the slightest hint of a grin. "It was very informative."

Lita made a gagging sound. "Oh please, spare me," she muttered.

Nephrite smirked. "What's wrong, Sparky? Are you not having a good night?"

"It was fine until you came along!" she grumbled.

Zoicite stepped up next to Amy, who was sitting on the outside seat. "Hello, Amy."

The blue haired girl blushed slightly. "Hello, Zoicite."

Raye jumped up from her seat. "Well this has been fun and all, but I need to get home. I promised Grandpa that I'd help him out with a couple of things tonight before it got too late."

"But you've barely touched your milkshake!" Serena protested. "Besides, I thought you said that you had absolutely nothing going on tonight or tomorrow and that you were going to sleep in."

"Well I just remembered this," Raye fired back angrily.

Jadeite sighed deeply. "Don't get so bent out of shape, Firefly. I promise I won't even come near you unless you want me to." With that he retreated to the counter where he sat down and ordered a soda from Andrew.

"What the hell? That's not like him," Raye muttered. "He's not even giving me a reason to light his ass up."

"Whatever!" Lita muttered. "I need to leave too. I've let things pile up around my place this week since we've been so busy with exams. I really need to get some laundry and other things done. I haven't even watered my plants for a few days."

Nephrite bowed his head. "Please don't leave on my account. If my presence bothers you that much I'll just go join Jadeite." Then he walked over to sit on the stool next to his blonde friend.

"Okay! Now that is just too freaky!" Lita said in shock. "Maybe we should get while the getting's good, Raye."

"I think you may be right," Raye agreed. "Let's get Andrew to put our shakes in to go cups and get the hell out of here. I don't know how much more weirdness I can take. We'll see you guys later."

The two girls scrambled from the booth and went to the counter where they stood as far away from Jadeite and Nephrite as they could while Andrew transferred their drinks to cups they could take with them. Then they almost ran out the door.

Jadeite and Nephrite waited for about half a minute before getting up and following them.

"What are those two up to?" Serena mused.

Zoicite chuckled. "It's just a little reverse psychology. I advised them to not go overboard or be too domineering. I figured that would be the opposite of what Raye and Lita would expect and knock them off balance. It seems that I was right."

Mina trilled a laugh. "You can say that again! I never thought I would see our two resident badasses so confused."

"But Jed and Neph aren't going after them to confront them, are they?" Serena asked in sudden concern. "That could be bad given the state of mind that the girls are in right now. Things could turn ugly really quick."

"I wouldn't worry about those two yahoos," Kunzite reassured her. "I may question their sanity sometimes, especially Jed's, but they're not stupid. They know that they are walking a fine line right now. I'm sure they are only following the girls to make sure they reach home okay."

"God help them if they get caught," Amy sighed. "Raye and Lita have been making the walk home from here for years now. They won't like it if they find out they're being followed."

Things fell silent after that, and after several long, awkward seconds Serena decided to make herself scarce. "Excuse me for a moment. I need to visit the ladies' room."

She slid from the booth and walked across the room, passing right by Darien, who had been silent through everything, without a word. She paused inside the hall that led to the bathrooms and looked back in satisfaction. Kunzite had helped Mina up from her seat and was leading her toward an empty booth while Zoicite had sat down across from Amy. At least two couples seemed to be on civil terms.

Darien was wandering back toward his stool at the counter, so she continued to the bathroom. She didn't really need to go, but she felt like being alone for a moment.

She stood in the empty bathroom staring at her reflection in the wide mirror over the row of sinks as she pondered over Darien's strange behavior. She knew the sexual tension between the two of them had been growing stronger lately, that had started happening even before the whole Galaxia thing. But recently it had become even more intense. What she couldn't understand was why Darien was acting the way he was.

Sure, they had faced some ridicule in the past over the age difference between them. She still remembered the first time that she had gone to the university campus with Darien so he could pick up something from one of his teachers and they had run into a group of his classmates. A very pretty, older brunette girl had slyly asked if Serena was his kid sister. Darien hadn't batted an eye as he put an arm around her shoulders and declared proudly that she was his girlfriend. She could still hear the group's snickers and snide comments about Darien robbing the cradle to this day.

But Darien had never made her feel self conscious about her age. While most guys that were seventeen and eighteen were enjoying hot and heavy relationships with girls of a similar age that came with all of the physical perks, Darien had been content with movie nights and walks in the park, holding her hand and sharing sweet, but chaste kisses.

But she had grown up in that time. She would be seventeen in just over a month, and the three year age gap between them was not an issue in her mind anymore. It was hard for her to see the changes in herself sometimes, especially since she seemed to be stuck at the height of 5'4", which was ten inches shorter than her 6'2" prince. Her mother kept telling her that she may hit another growth spurt, but she was losing hope of that.

But she knew that some sort of maturity must show around her now. It had been a long time since she had seen anyone give them funny looks as they walked down the street together. And now when they ran into anyone Darien knew from school and he introduced her they treated her like a normal person. It may have seemed strange a few years ago for a seventeen-year-old boy to be dating a fourteen-year-old girl, but now that they were older nobody cared.

As she continued to study her reflection, she wondered what Darien saw when he looked at her. Sure, he complimented her all the time and told her that he thought she was beautiful. But did he truly see her as the young woman that she had become, or did he still see her as the overgrown child she had been?

That had been why she had bought the black bikini. She had wanted something that looked more mature than the bathing suit she usually wore in hopes that Darien would take notice. But that seemed to have backfired since he had acted like she had the plague instead.

She had also began updating her regular wardrobe as well, but since she was usually stuck wearing her school uniform most of the time, she hadn't really had a chance yet to show off many of her new purchases. But now that she was free from the dreaded uniform for a while that was going to change.

The bathroom door opened and Mina stuck her head in. "Oh there you are! We were wondering where you took off to."

"Yeah, here I am," Serena grumbled.

Mina walked the rest of the way in and made sure to close the door behind her. "Alright, spill! Something between you and Darien has got you wound up tighter than Artemis after he and Luna have had a spat. So tell Cousin Mina everything."

Serena couldn't help but laugh. "Mina, you haven't been my cousin in over a thousand years."

The blonde goddess of love waved a dismissive hand. "That's merely a formality. Once a family, always a family I say."

Serena shook her head in amusement and then sighed. "Thanks, Mina, but I'm okay, really. I just have a lot on my mind."

Mina eyed her dubiously. "Okay. But if you need some help, or just someone to talk to…"

"You'll be the first person I call," Serena reassured her.

That seemed to appease Mina. "Anyway, I think everyone's getting ready to check out. Amy and Zoicite have been talking and he offered her a ride home. I think she's going to take him up on it. Kunzite offered me a ride too, and I said yes. Well, he actually asked me out to dinner, but I told him maybe tomorrow. My head is still spinning from everything that's happened and I just want to go home and relax tonight so I can try and pull myself together."

Serena smiled. "You guys go ahead. I'm probably going to head home too and chill."

Mina shuffled her feet a little. "Yeah, Darien was wondering if you wanted a ride or if you were still too mad at him. Jadeite and Nephrite came back in a minute ago and said that Raye and Lita made it home safe. They're both in one piece, so I'm assuming that they weren't discovered being stalkers. But they asked Darien if he wanted to hang with them for a while, so I guess they are wanting to have guy time."

"Oh," Serena muttered. She felt a little sting of rejection that her boyfriend was willing to spend time with the guys and not with her, but she really couldn't hold it against him. At one time the five of them had been just as tight as she and the girls, and they had a lot of time to make up for.

"I guess we better get going then," she said in what she hoped was a cheerful voice. "I don't know about you, but I'm kinda tired from all of the swimming."

Mina nodded as they left the bathroom. "Me too. But it was a great way to kick off the summer."

They walked back into the arcade where Darien, Kunzite, Jadeite, and Nephrite were all sitting at a table talking. The men stood as the women approached.

"Amy already left with Zoicite. She told me tell both of you goodbye and that she would talk to you later. She was tired and wanted to get home," Darien told them.

Serena nodded slowly. "I'm going to head for home myself. I need to take a bath and wash the chlorine out of my hair anyway."

Darien pulled his keys from his pocket. "I'll take you home."

She shook her head. "That's okay, I can walk. It's not that far. You go ahead and have fun with the guys."

"I said I'll take you home," he repeated firmly.

She shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."

She said goodbye to Mina and the guys and waved to Andrew as she followed Darien out to his car. Neither of them said a word until they were inside and he had cut the engine on.

"Are you still mad at me?" he finally asked in a flat tone.

She heaved a deep sigh. "I'm not really mad. I'm more confused than anything. What did I do to suddenly make you start treating me like the creature from the Black Lagoon?"

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. "Is that what you think? God, Serena! You haven't done anything wrong. I love you more than anything. You know that."

Her temper began simmering again. "Well it was kind of hard to tell that today! Every time I got within three feet of you, you jumped away like I was made out of Raye's fire or something. So what the hell was I supposed to think?"

His face was turning red, a sure sign that he was starting to lose his temper as well. "Look, Serena, this isn't what you think it is. This is all about me, okay. It has nothing to do with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please! Not the old _'It's not you, it's me' _line. That's so original! Now's the part where you continue the cheesy movie dialogue and tell me that you love me, but you're not in love with me, and that we should see other people, right?"

"No, damn it!" he roared, slamming his hands against the steering wheel. "That's not what I'm saying at all! I am deeply and irrevocably in love with you! There is no other person for me but you! If I didn't have you…"

His voice broke off as he looked over to find Serena huddled against the door, her large blue eyes wide with what looked to be fear and her lower lip trembling. Then he realized that he had been yelling like a madman.

"I…I think I'll just walk home," she whispered shakily, reaching for the door handle.

"No!" he cried in a panic and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her toward him and over the center console until she was sitting on his lap. Then he hugged her tightly and buried his face in her neck. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to explode like that. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"It's okay," she said soothingly. "I just wish you would talk to me. I've been worried about you all week. I thought maybe you were just stressed out because of the exams. You were fine until we started meeting for study group. After that you changed. It was almost like you turned into a stranger."

He chuckled hollowly. "The exams were nothing. I've just been wrestling with some inner demons. And honestly, I just don't trust myself to be alone with you."

She pulled back to stare at him through narrowed eyes. "Oh no!" she groaned. "So I was right! This all some chivalry thing because of what happened between us in your bathroom on Monday night, isn't it?"

He shook his head. "This isn't a chivalry thing, Serena. I'm trying to keep you safe."

She rolled her eyes. "From who, you?"

"Yes, from me!" he cried. "Do you realize what probably would have happened if Raye hadn't interrupted us when she did?"

Serena had the nerve to look smug. "Oh yes, I'm very much aware of what almost happened. And believe me, I considered murdering Raye for breaking up our moment."

He looked at her in shock. "Serena, I mauled you like an animal! If we had been alone in there for another minute…"

"Spare me the self-persecution!" she interrupted him. "You didn't do anything to me that I didn't want you to do. If I hadn't liked what you were doing I could have screamed or probably fought you off myself. And if I'm not mistaken, I was just as busy taking off your clothes as you were taking off mine."

Darien closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat. "But the point is that it shouldn't have happened. I've always been able to control myself with you before. But here lately it's getting harder to do."

She scrambled off his lap and back into her seat. "Maybe that's because your brain is trying to wake you up to the fact that I'm not a child anymore, Darien. I grew up right in front of you, but your eyes are just too blind to see it. I also did a lot of growing up while you were…gone." She couldn't bring herself to say dead. "I'm not the same bumbling, whiny fourteen year old that threw a test paper at your head or the one you found stumbling around Osa-P Jewelry Store. If you can't realize that then you're right, you do have a problem. Now I would like to go home. Are you still taking me, or do I need to walk?"

He stared at her in amazement for a moment. Instead of screaming and crying, she had delivered her little speech in a regal tone that would probably put the princess she once was and the queen she would one day be to shame.

"Sere, I…" he began hesitantly.

"Please, Darien. I just want to go home, take a bath, and go to bed. I'm tired and cranky. And I'm also afraid that if we keep up this conversation right now that one of us is going to end up saying something that we'll regret," she said softly.

He couldn't argue with her logic, but he couldn't help but wonder exactly when his little Meatball Head had become so wise. He merely nodded his head and put the car in gear before pulling out into the street.

They arrived at the Tsukino's house just a few minutes later. As he brought the car to a stop at the curb Serena reached down to grab her bag on the floorboard.

"I'll see you tomorrow, won't I?" Darien asked uncertainly.

Surprisingly, Serena turned to him with a wide smile. "I'm sure we'll run into each other at some point. We always do. Now why don't you go hang with the guys for a while and try to have some fun. You're entirely too tense."

He was still trying to process her sudden change in attitude when she suddenly put a hand behind his head and sank her fingers into his hair to pull his head toward hers. Then she kissed him hotly, swirling her tongue around his for several seconds before pulling back with a grin.

"That's just a little something for you to think about tonight when you go to sleep," she said in a teasing tone.

She was out of the car and up the walkway before he had a chance to blink. She pulled out her key and quickly let herself in. Once inside she peeked out the window by the door to see that he was still sitting in the car, staring at her house with a flabbergasted expression on his face. After a minute or so, he finally drove away.

A determined look came over her face as she stomped up the stairs, not bothering to be quiet. Her parents were out for the evening and Sammy was staying at a friend's, so she had the house to herself.

She paused in her room long enough to drop off her stuff and to grab her favorite sleep shirt before heading to the bathroom. One she had washed her hair under the shower, she tied it up and filled the tub with hot water, adding a generous portion of her favorite bubble bath. As she sank down into the fluffy suds, she pondered over her dilemma.

She had tried being patient. She had tried being subtle. She had tried flaunting herself in front of him, and it still wasn't working. She needed a new game plan, something bolder and more daring. But she wasn't sure where to begin. She was going to have to enlist some help.

A half an hour later she drained the tub and got out. After brushing her hair and teeth and getting dressed she went back to her room. She grabbed her cell phone as she crawled onto her bed and scrolled down through her contact list until she found the number she was looking for and pressed the call button.

The phone rang a few times before a slightly groggy voice answered, "Hello?"

"So did you kiss him," she said as a greeting.

Mina sniffed. "No I did not! I told you, I'm taking tonight to get my priorities straight."

Serena giggled. "That's what I've been doing too, and I think I've come up with something."

"Ooo, that sounds interesting," Mina drawled. "So what does that have to do with me?"

Serena smiled devilishly. "Let's just say that I find myself in need of advice from the love goddess."

"I'm all ears," Mina purred.

* * *

**A/N **Now we're about to get to the good stuff. The generals are back, so we're going to see more of them and their respective others. Serena is at her wit's end with Darien and about to take drastic measures. She's even calling in help from the love goddess. I see the infamous scene that Serena told Jess (who was almost mentioned in this chapter by Neo Queen Serenity, hee hee) about in chapter 21 of _Lunar Princess_ in the immediate future. Of course I'll have to keep it PG-13 to keep the rating the same. I'm also looking forward to cultivating the relationships between the scouts and generals. They are all just so darn cute! So yeah, more action coming soon! Don't forget to shoot me those reviews and tell me what you think. I gotta run now! Thanks for reading! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	9. Reeling in the Line

**A/N **Okay, I was going to update _Rekindled _before this one, but for some reason the next chapter is frustrating me, so I decided to work on this instead so I can get my head back on straight. Luckily this one gave me no problems and I have to say that I'm fairly content with the way it turned out. I hope you guys feel the same way. Now let me get my hugs out. BIG HUGS TO:

**saveme57**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**YingYing**

**gots2luv**

**JuliaGulia17**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**JaguarSolaris**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**GoldenDragon326**

**Seredhiel**

**sabina21**

**Chibi Kitt**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**KageNoNeko**

**S dot Serenity**

**samsox**

**Lilcala**

**jade2nightwing**

**anime-lover10**

**Fedski**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

A million thank yous to all of you! You guys are the best! Now, moving on!

*****Sexual Content Warning*****

Now don't go gasping in shock yet. It's not too bad. But to all of you that have read _Lunar Princess_, the time for Serena's ambush on Darien has arrived. And while this chapter does not contain a lemon so that I can keep the rating the same, there will be a quite a bit of kissing and touching that might be a little more explicit than what I usually post. Believe me, I could have made it a lot more detailed. But I just thought I'd warn you now so that you can't blame me for giving you mental images later. I know some of you like reading about intimate moments, and some of you don't. Hence the warning.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, I'm going to stop blabbing now.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 9

Reeling in the Line

* * *

Mina pushed up the dark sunglasses that were slipping down the bridge of her nose as she swirled the straw in her orange-strawberry smoothie. She still couldn't believe that she was up this early on a Saturday morning during her summer vacation.

Okay, so 9:45 was not considered early to some people, but it was to her. After spending the early part of her teen years having to attend 4 am make up sessions while working on the Sailor V movies and the last few years being pulled from her bed at all hours of the night to fight whatever monsters the latest enemy decided to throw their way she had turned into a creature that slept in until at least noon whenever she had the chance.

But this morning she was on a mission, a mission of love. When Serena had called her the night before and had asked her for her help with a problem she was having with Darien she couldn't refuse. She was the love goddess after all. And Serena was her princess, so it was her duty to help her if she was having difficulties in love.

She looked around the patio of the cozy little café that Serena had asked her to meet her at. Her fellow blonde had refused to go into details on the phone last night about what her predicament was, but the fact that Serena had suggested for them to meet here instead of at the arcade lent an air of intrigue to the situation.

She picked her glass up and had just placed her lips around the straw when a shadow fell over her, blocking out the bright morning sun. She looked up, squinting behind her sunglasses, but the person now standing next to her was much too large to be her petite friend.

"Well, well, good morning, Venus," a deep voice drawled smoothly.

Her lips twitched in the hint of a smile. "Good morning to you too, General."

"Do you mind if I join you?" Kunzite asked in a pleasant tone.

She waved a hand toward the chair across from her. "Not at all. I'm just waiting for Serena. She's supposed to be meeting me here soon. So how was your first night in Tokyo?"

Kunzite settled into his seat and sat back, crossing one leg over the other. "It was pleasant, I suppose. Darien came over to our new place and we had a couple of beers and shot some pool while we played catch up. I guess you could say we had a guy's night."

"That sounds nice," Mina replied politely, grateful for the dark lenses that were covering her eyes as she drank in the impressive sight he made sitting there in his dark blue jeans and light blue polo shirt. The soft cotton material hugged his broad shoulders and the fringe of silvery hair falling over his gray eyes made her fingers itch to sweep back the silky locks.

A waiter approached their table and asked Kunzite if he would like to order anything.

"Coffee, black," he said absently before returning his full attention to the young woman across from him. "And how was your evening? You seemed to be very tired when I dropped you off at your house last night."

The calm, refined façade that Mina had been trying to put on crumbled like a sandcastle. "I'll say I was tired! After dealing with the last of my school stuff yesterday morning and then spending all afternoon swimming on top of dealing with the strange vibes I'm getting off of Serena and Darien and then you showing up I'm surprised I was still breathing, much less walking and talking. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow, at least until Serena called and asked me to meet her here. But I was still able to pass right back out with no trouble. Besides, I want to get to the bottom of what's going on between the two of them anyway so I can stop feeling so jumpy when I'm around them. You have no idea how hard it is to be in the presence of a pair of soul mates when they have issues between them. I seriously thought I was going to pull my hair out yesterday and…Wait a minute! Are you laughing at me?"

Kunzite was indeed chuckling, but he shook his head. "No, Mina, I'm not laughing at you. I'm just expressing how refreshing I find it to be with someone who isn't afraid to say everything that is on their mind, that's all."

Her cheeks flushed red. "I know I talk too much sometimes. It's probably my biggest personality flaw. Poor Artemis claims that I've almost driven him to the nut house on many occasions with my babbling."

"I don't see it as being a personality flaw," Kunzite reassured her. He paused for a moment to thank the waiter that set the cup of coffee in front of him before he continued. "Like I said, it's refreshing. I like knowing that you are free to express and be yourself instead of having to keep your true nature bottled up inside."

She pulled her sunglasses down to look at him over the rims with clouded blue eyes. "You mean the way I had to act when I was Minako?"

He shrugged. "If you want to look at it like that. Don't get me wrong. I loved Minako deeply. But I always knew that there was another person locked up inside of her. You were inside of her. I caught a glimpse of you on a few occasions, but…well, times were different back then. We had our sworn duties and they took precedence over everything else."

She nodded slowly. "That's true. I always thought that there was another side to you as well. People called you _Iron Fist _because of your no nonsense way of leading the royal army of Earth, but there were times that I saw a completely different you. You always tried to present yourself as being the stern general, but the real Kunzite was always right under the surface."

He smirked a little as he sipped from his cup. "The real Kunzite, huh? Are you saying that I had a soft side?"

Mina met his gaze steadily. "I know you do. My memories of the past may be fuzzy in some places, but I haven't forgotten everything. As a matter of fact, I'm seeing part of that other side right now."

His gray eyes narrowed just a bit. "What do you mean?"

Her blue eyes sparkled humorously in return. "I'm not having to work like a Venusian miner to bring a smile to your face. They seem to be popping up effortlessly on their own. Also your posture is more relaxed and that hard edge to your voice is missing."

The change in him was instantaneous. He sat up straighter as all signs of emotion fled his face, leaving it a blank, impersonal mask. He wasn't sure if he liked her assessment or not.

A giggle bubbled past her pink glossed lips. "For heaven's sake, Kunzite, that wasn't an insult. You don't have to act like someone just shoved a steel rod up your butt. I was just commenting on the fact that it looks like you've finally learned to live, that's all."

"I lived just fine before," he ground out.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh don't go turning into General Grouch on me! I'm not trying to bruise your manly ego. I'm just saying that you look happy and you deserve it. We all do after what we have been through. We may have been happy in the past, but now we have the opportunity to live our lives to the fullest. Don't get me wrong, Serena is still my princess and my first duty will always be to her, but I'm also free to live my life the way I want to and be myself. And I plan on enjoying every second of it."

Her impassioned words touched a chord inside him. He relaxed back into his seat and let one of those effortless smiles she mentioned curve his lips. "I suppose you're right. I guess it will just take me a while to get used to being in control of my own life after answering to the crown for so long. My loyalty still lies with Darien since he is Endymion's reincarnation, but I look forward to exploring all the possibilities this life has to offer."

"Well you should," Mina said simply before taking a long sip of her smoothie. "After all, it is your life. You should do what you want."

Kunzite saw his opening and took it. "Does that include taking you out to dinner tonight?"

Mina's mouth fell open. Clearly he had taken her by complete surprise. "I…um…well…you see…"

He chuckled. "It's a dinner invitation, Mina, not a proposal of marriage. I just thought that the two of us could get together and take the chance to get to know each other over a meal, just as friends. You did say that we could be friends, didn't you?"

His glittering gray eyes challenged her, and she never backed down from a challenge. She tossed her head and answered confidently, "Very well, Kunzite. I accept your invitation."

He grinned smugly. "Good! Did you have any preference about where you want to go?"

She shook her head. "Anywhere's fine. I'm not picky."

"Hmm…" he mused. "I may have to do some investigating. I was reading about this one place in the paper this morning that sounded nice. _Romansque _I believe it was called."

Mina let out a dainty snort. "Good luck getting in there! That place is way beyond exclusive, not to mention it's expensive. My dad tried to get reservations there the last time he and my mom were in town and they told him that there was a week long waiting list. Lita's been dying to get in there since it opened, but it's way out of her budget."

Kunzite shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll see. I'm sure I can come up with something."

"Am I interrupting anything?" an amused voice asked as a small shadow fell over them.

Kunzite stood with a wide smile. "Dear Serena! No, you are not interrupting us. Mina and I were just finalizing our plans for this evening. So, is 7:00 a good time to pick you up, Mina?"

The shell-shocked blonde nodded dumbly. "Uh…sure. I'll be ready."

He picked her hand up off the table and bent down to brush a kiss across the back of it. "I will see you then. I'll leave you lovely ladies to your business now. Serena." He nodded his head toward the reincarnated princess and then turned to stroll casually away, whistling a tune softly under his breath.

Serena stood gaping for several long seconds before turning to her friend in disbelief. "Holy cow! He was smiling! And was he just whistling?"

Mina continued to stare at Kunzite's retreating back that was now a half a block away. "I have a date with Kunzite," she finally whispered. Then her panicked blue eyes flew up to clash with Serena's almost identical gaze as she shrieked, "Oh my god, Serena! I have a date with Kunzite!"

* * *

Dr. Mizuno sighed as she sat back in her desk chair. "Thank you for bringing me breakfast, sweetheart. You didn't have to do that. I could have just grabbed something from the cafeteria."

Amy wrinkled her nose up and laughed as she threw the trash from her and her mother's impromptu breakfast in the garbage can. "Yeah right! You always complain about the cafeteria food here. I know you better than that, mom. You would have probably ended up with a honey bun out of one of the snack machines."

Her mother joined her laughter. "You're probably right. I do have to say that bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich definitely perked me up more than a sugary snack cake would have. Now I have the energy to get through the rest of this double shift."

Amy shook her head. "Still no luck on hiring in any new doctors?"

Dr. Mizuno slipped her feet back into her shoes and reached for her white lab coat. "They've hired on a few, but not enough to lighten the load yet. We've had so many of the doctors on staff either retire, move, or go to teaching full time that it's left us severely understaffed. But we'll bounce back from it. There are new doctors graduating from med school every semester, so we should be getting some new blood in here soon. I do know that I am going to take some much needed vacation time as soon as I can."

"You should," Amy told her. "Maybe you can go lay on the beach for a few days to recoup. You deserve it."

Her mother chuckled. "Here's hoping. But until then, duty calls." She gathered up a stack of files in her arms.

Amy picked up her purse and followed her mother out of the office. "I guess I'm going to run now. I've got some books that I need to return to the library."

Dr. Mizuno smiled gently. "I hope you're not going to spend all day cooped up inside. The weather is beautiful and you are on summer break. Get out and enjoy it. I'm sure you and the girls have something planned, don't you?"

"Um, not really. I haven't talked to anyone this morning," Amy hedged. "I'll probably hear from them in a little while though. They all kind of have some…_things_…going on right now."

"Ah…" the older woman said in understanding. "Guy things, huh?"

Amy shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

A mischievous smile tilted the doctor's lips. "And when are you going to find one of these _guy things _for yourself?"

"Mom!" Amy cried as she felt heat flood her cheeks.

Dr. Mizuno just laughed and waved her away as they reached a nurse's station. "I'm only joking, honey. It will happen when it happens. Now go have fun. I'll see you later."

Amy spun away from her mother and walked toward the elevator with her head down as she fought to chase away the blush that she knew must be making her face look like a tomato. She jabbed the down button on the wall and waited for the doors to open. When they did she stepped in without looking up.

She thought the elevator was empty, but after a few moments she sensed another presence inside the car with her and looked up, right into a pair of vibrant green eyes. "Zoicite!" she gasped.

The dark blonde man nodded his head to her. "Amy. This is an unexpected surprise."

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Have you been spying on me?"

He looked affronted. "Of course not! I promised you that I wouldn't use our bond to keep tabs on you and I meant it. This is just purely coincidence."

The blush that had been fading from her cheeks roared back to life. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you. So why are you here? Did Raye and Lita land Jadeite and Nephrite in the hospital already?"

He chuckled lightly. "No. I was applying for a job actually. Thanks to the knowledge I acquired while I was gone and to Sailor Pluto, I hold a degree in both general and emergency medicine. Darien told me last night that the hospital is seriously looking for new doctors, so I decided to give it a shot. I just finished dropping off all of my information. Now I just have to wait and see what happens."

Amy shook her head and muttered, "Once a doctor, always a doctor I guess. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into. My mom has been pulling almost nonstop double shifts for the last two months."

A grin kicked up one side of his mouth. "I think I can handle it. Besides, I haven't gotten the job yet."

She huffed a quiet laugh. "Oh you will if they think you are even halfway qualified. This is an extremely busy hospital and they try to keep it well staffed. They've just had several things happen over the past year or so that have affected the number of doctors on staff, so they are definitely on the prowl for doctors that want to work here right now."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do I detect a note of wistfulness in that voice?"

She shrugged as the elevator doors dinged and opened. Zoicite followed her as she stepped out. "No, not really. When I was finishing middle school my counselor suggested that I take the accelerated program where I could finish high school in two years instead of four. If I had done that and then did the same thing with college I would be starting as a pre-med junior this fall. I considered doing it very briefly because it has worked out so well for Darien, but in the end I decided that I wanted to stay with my friends instead. I'm happy with my advanced placement classes anyway. College and medical school will still be waiting for me when I get done with high school. I still want to become a doctor, but I figure that I'm only going to be young once and I want to enjoy my life."

"There's nothing wrong with that," he commented as they stepped out the front lobby doors of the hospital and into the warm summer morning. "That is kind of the same outlook I have right now. I want to pursue a career in medicine, but I'm going to take time to just sit back and enjoy this new life that I have been given. In fact, I'm taking today to go visit a couple of museums that I read about. It sounded like it might be fun."

"Oh, you'll enjoy that," Amy said with a smile. "We have some really great museums here, and they're always getting new exhibits in. There is this one ancient Egyptian exhibit that I am dying to go see that just opened last week."

Zoicite remained silent for a moment before asking softly, "Would you like to go and see it with me?"

Amy's already large blue eyes widened even more in surprise. "O…oh! Um…well you see…"

"Ah!" he sighed heavily. "You already have other plans. I should have figured that."

"No!" she exclaimed in a rush and then drew in a deep breath. "I don't have any other plans. Your request just took me by surprise, that's all."

A sparkle entered his eyes. "Then would you do me the honor of accompanying me? I asked Nephrite if he wanted to go, but he said that he was busy. And I would really like to spend some time with you so that we can get to know each other better."

She still looked a little wary so he threw in, "I'll even include lunch, my treat."

Her uneasy look turned to one of amusement. "Why General Zoicite! Are you trying to bribe me?"

He gave her a lighthearted smile. "Perhaps. Is it working, Lady Mercury?"

An impish smile appeared on her pixie face. "Maybe." She ran her eyes appraisingly over the gray suit, shirt, and tie he was wearing and then looked down at her own faded jeans and white t-shirt. "How about you go home and change into something more casual while I do the same? You can meet me at my place in an hour."

He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. "It's a date." He pressed a brief kiss to her skin and then walked away.

Amy stood there for a moment watching his retreating form before she pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks and squeaked, "A date!"

* * *

Mina eyed Serena speculatively. "Did I just hear you right? You want me to help you come up with a plan to seduce Darien?"

"Shh!" Serena shushed her. "Not so loud! Yes, you heard me right. I've got to come up with some way to knock his socks off."

Mina snorted. "I don't see what the big deal is. The sparks between you two are hot enough to start a forest fire as it is, so don't tell me that the two of you have lost the magic in the bedroom already."

"It's hard to lose what you've never found," Serena muttered.

Mina rolled her eyes. "And what is that supposed to mean? You and Darien have an explosive chemistry together. Everyone can see it. Raye and Lita have even taken bets on how many bed frames you guys have broken."

Serena slapped her hands over her red face. "Oh my god! Those hentai! Don't they have anything better to do than to speculate about my love life?"

Mina reached over and patted her shoulder. "There, there, they just couldn't help themselves. You and Darien exude an aura of such a well-loved couple that it's hard to miss. So why do you need such an elaborate scheme to get him into bed? All you have to do is crook your little finger at him and he'll be your willing slave."

"I've tried that. It doesn't work," Serena grumbled. "I've tried just about everything I can think of. I've been subtle. I've been coy. Hell, I've even tried throwing myself at him, but the big idiot just doesn't get it! I've seriously been trying to get his attention for over three months now!"

Mina's eyes clouded in confusion. "Serena, are you saying that you and Darien haven't made love since he came back after the Galaxia thing?" She stared in horror as her friend's eyes filled up with tears.

"No, Mina," Serena whispered in a cracked voice as the floodgates opened. "I'm saying that Darien and I haven't made love ever."

To say that the goddess of love was stunned would be an understatement. It was a good thing that she was already sitting down, because she probably would have fallen down if she hadn't been. Had she read the signs wrong? She normally wasn't mistaken about these kinds of things.

Okay, so she had known that things were pretty innocent between the two reunited lovers after Darien had regained his memories shortly before Rini showed up for the first time and the Dark Moon had begun attacking. And even after they had discovered what they had about their future and that Rini was their future daughter the two of them still seemed to have a chaste relationship. They were closer than ever before emotionally, but their relationship still had a bit of that puppy love feel.

She had started noticing some differences between them during the fight against Pharaoh 90, especially after Serena's fifteenth birthday when she had been targeted and almost killed and Kaori Knight had captured Darien. Then later they had banded together like a couple of concerned parents when Rini's pure heart crystal was stolen.

But the biggest change had come when Darien had been stricken ill when Nehelenia had filled Elysian and the Earth with darkness and he almost died. He had been so sick and coughing up lungfuls of black blood, but Serena had refused to let him push her away when he tried. It was almost the death of both of them, but they had persevered. That had been when Mina had become convinced that the two of them had become one. Her theory was further strengthened when Serena had rushed off alone to try and save Darien when Nehelenia kidnapped him. And don't even get her started on the depression Serena had gone through during the whole Galaxia drama. No, they had to be intimately linked.

"You're pulling my leg, right?" Mina quipped in a light voice. "This is just some kind of joke you're trying to pull over on me. I mean, come on! You spend the night at the guy's apartment all the time. And don't try to tell me that he's sleeping in the spare room or on the couch. I've witnessed too many of your morning afters when you show up with love bites on your neck and a dreamy expression on your face."

Serena shook her head. "Those are just hot and heavy make out sessions. And even those are pretty tame really. Do you know that I wouldn't even know if Darien wears boxers or briefs if I hadn't looked in his drawers? We never get farther than getting our shirts off before he throws up a roadblock and stops everything. And if I'm not wearing a bra then my shirt stays on."

Mina was flabbergasted. "You're really serious, aren't you?"

Serena picked up a napkin from the table and used it to dry her tears. "Uh huh. I've tried to convince him that I'm ready to take the next step, but he's just so stubborn. There's been a few times when I thought that something was finally about to happen, but then he pulls away from me."

Then she explained what had happened in Darien's bathroom on Monday night and how he'd kept her at a distance the whole week.

"That explains so much," Mina mused. "I knew that I had been feeling some tension between the two of you, but I just wrote it off as being exam nerves. But then yesterday when you guys had that blow up I didn't know what to make of it. So that's why you bought that black bikini for the pool party. I can't believe that he didn't go nuts after taking one look at you in that thing. You looked hot!"

Serena snorted. "He went nuts all right! He wouldn't come near me at all. And when I finally forced what was wrong out of him he acted like he was some kind of lecherous pervert just because I turn him on. Does that make any sense to you?"

Mina tilted her head to the side. "In a way it does. While Darien is no longer a prince, he still retains a lot of the traits that made up Endymion. He is just as noble and chivalrous as the prince he once was."

Serena's hands banged on the table. "But I don't want him to be a prince now! I want him to be _him_. I want him to be able to act on his feelings instead of bottling it all up inside. I want him to…I want him to _love _me. I even thought about just going to his apartment when he wasn't there, stripping down naked, and be waiting on the bed when he walks in. But with the way he's been acting he'd probably just turn around and walk out."

"Hmm…you may be on to something there," Mina said as she tapped her chin with a pink polished fingernail. "But I think we can come up with something a little more sophisticated than that."

A grin unfurled on Serena's face as she saw the wheels beginning to turn in her friend's mind. "What are you thinking, Mina?"

Mina smiled beatifically. "Just put yourself in the hands of the goddess of love, Serena, and I promise you that you will have your man exactly where you want him by the end of the night."

* * *

"Let's see," Lita murmured to herself as she pulled out her list after getting a shopping cart. "Looks like I don't need much this time since I spent all week studying with the others. This should be a short trip."

She pushed her cart down the first aisle until she came to where the bread was. There was another person on the aisle, but she didn't pay any attention to them. She reached for a loaf of her favorite brand just as a large hand reached for the one next to it. She automatically stepped to the side and said, "Excuse me."

A deep chuckle rumbled next to her. "That's quite all right, Lita."

"Damn!" she hissed as her eyes flew up to meet the cool, slate blue gaze of the man standing next to her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Nephrite raised a brow at her. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm grocery shopping." He pointed to the half full cart next to him. "My new place is only a few blocks from here and I remembered this store as being the one that you shop at, so I figured it must be the best place to go."

"Oh," she muttered, her accusation that he was following her dying on her tongue. If he had already picked up so many things then he had to have been here way before she had come in.

"My kitchen pantry and cabinets are fairly well stocked with canned goods and non-perishables, but we are sadly lacking for fresh ingredients. So I decided I better come and pick up all of the meats, produce, and dairy products we need," he told her.

She couldn't stop the smirk that lifted her lips. "You and the other guys are all living together?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. We've got a pretty nice setup. It's big and we all have our own space, so it's not like we're right up under each other."

She snorted a laugh. "You'll end up being their kitchen slave, you know. If I remember correctly Kunzite and Jadeite can barely boil water and Zoicite can only handle the simplest of recipes."

He grinned. "I don't mind. I have always rather enjoyed cooking, and the way the kitchen is set up makes it look like it was designed for a chef. So I look forward to using it."

Lita felt a spear of envy shoot through her as she thought about her modest kitchen in her apartment. While it served its purpose, she had always wondered what it would be like to have a large kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, a double oven, and a stove with at least six burners. She bit back a sigh. It would be heaven.

"Well I hope you enjoy it," she said grudgingly as she placed her bread in her cart and walked away to continue her shopping.

She saw him a few more times as she made her way up and down the aisles, grabbing the few things that she needed. She forced back a laugh when she passed by the soft drink aisle and heard him grumbling Jadeite's name under his breath as he picked up a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper's to add to the stack under the cart that already held Cokes, Mountain Dews, and Sprites. It seemed each general had their own preference when it came to soda.

For the most part she ignored the fact that they were in the same store together, but there were a couple of instances when she acknowledged him. One was when she rounded a corner and her cart crashed into his. They each muttered an apology before moving on. Another was when she stopped at the seafood counter to get some shrimp and was talking to Mike. She'd felt his burning gaze on her and had looked up to glare at him, remembering his reaction the last time he had seen her talking to the seafood man. A part of her hoped that he would cause a scene so that she would have an excuse to kick his ass. But after a moment he shook his head and continued on.

When she went to go check out he was in another line, paying for the bags of groceries that were piled in the cart. She breathed a sigh of relief when he gave her a small wave of farewell and exited the store.

A few minutes later she was done and walked out with her few bags. She figured that he would be long gone by now, but was shocked to see him loading the last of the bags into the back of a large, gleaming, black pick up truck. She had to get a better look.

"Nice wheels," she muttered as she walked by.

He shot her a boyish grin. "Yeah. She's great, isn't she?" Then he looked down at the bags hanging from her arms. "Would you like a ride so you don't have to carry those all the way to your place?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's only four little bags and my place is only two blocks away. I think I can handle it. I've been doing it for years now."

"I was just trying to be a gentleman," he grumbled. "I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself. I just thought you might appreciate a ride." Then his eyes lit up. "Come on and ride with me. I'll take you by my place so you can check out the kitchen. I guarantee you that you'll love it."

She glared at him like he was a youma. "Yeah right! Like I would go anywhere with you. Thanks, but no thanks, General! In your dreams!" She turned and stomped away.

"We'll just see about that, Sparky," he whispered as he watched her go. "I'll find a way to break you down eventually."

* * *

Raye looked up as someone knocked on her bedroom door. "Come in!"

The door slid open to reveal her diminutive grandfather. "Raye, could I get you to come and help me for a minute? Chad's busy and I'm trying to get a box down off of one of the top shelves in the storeroom."

She tossed the magazine that she had been looking at to the side and rolled off the bed. "Sure, Gramps. Is it busy out there? You should have called me earlier if it was."

He waved a hand. "No, no, you deserve some time off. It's nothing that Chad and I can't handle. It's mostly just people strolling the grounds and enjoying the weather and teenage girls buying charms. But those teenage girls have cleared me out of love charms looking for their summer love and I need a new box."

"Summer love!" Raye snorted as she swept from the room. "Don't those little idiots know that there's no such thing?"

"Now dearest," Grandpa chided her gently. "Everyone deserves their chance at summer love. Your grandmother and I had it. I may not have been able to keep her with me as long as I wanted to, but I wouldn't trade that first summer for all the gold in the world."

Raye heaved a sigh. She'd heard all of this before. "You two were one of the exceptions. I'm not saying that true love doesn't exist, but I think most people are blinded by the idea of love. They run around and make idiots out of themselves to impress the person that they think are _the one, _only to set themselves up for heartbreak later when everything falls apart."

Grandpa smirked at her. "You sound like you could use a good dose of summer love yourself. You can't go through life holding the way your father is against all men. You'll grow old lonely if you do. You need to get out more and have fun."

"I do go out and have fun!" she snapped. "Geez! You make it sound like I spend all of my time hanging around here."

"I know you go out," Grandpa replied in a placating tone. "But I mean you need to do something besides spending all of your time with your pretty little friends. You are a beautiful, ambitious young woman, and there is an ocean of available young men out there that would probably fight to the death to claim your heart."

Raye shot him an incredulous look as she stalked into the storeroom and climbed up onto the step stool to retrieve the box he needed. "Have you gone off of your medication or something? I've never heard you talk like this before."

He pinned her with an usually serious gaze. "My health is fine. You and I have been each other's rocks to lean on for a long time now, but I would like to see you with someone who is yours. And if Kami is willing I will one day get to see you become a bride and possibly give me great grandchild or two."

"You're delusional," she sighed as she carried the box out toward where the charm stand was set up.

"Maybe I am," he said as he walked at her side. "But don't forget that you're not the only one that can read the fire, missy. I have seen things, and I think that there is a change coming for you soon."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah right! Some gallant prince is going to come riding in and sweep me off my feet."

"You may be surprised," her grandfather contradicted. "He may not come charging in on a horse and wearing armor, but there is someone out there that is waiting to steal your heart."

"I'll keep that in mind," she muttered sarcastically as she set the box down near where Chad was busy talking to a group of girls that were staring at the shaggy haired, wannabe rock star with love struck expressions. She shook her head with a chuckle as he smiled his thanks at her and returned to charming the ladies. Chad never had a problem finding a date for Saturday night.

She had detested the brown haired young man when he had first appeared on the steps of the shrine looking like a bum and Grandpa had taken him in. And then he had just about driven her crazy with the crush that he developed on her. But luckily it had been short lived and he had moved on. Now they viewed one another as close friends, almost like siblings because of their mutual love and respect for Grandpa.

Even though she technically wasn't working, she opened the box out of habit and began setting the love charms out. The myriad teenage girls squealed when they saw them.

That was when she heard it, that low tenor chuckle that sometimes haunted her dreams and her fuzzy distant memories. She spun around to glare at the blonde man that had come up behind her. "What are you doing here, Jadeite?"

He held up his hands like he was trying to ward off the violet sparks that looked like they could start flying from her eyes any second. "Don't shoot!" he cried dramatically.

She was horrified to feel a smile threaten to lift her lips. Why did he have to look so damn handsome with his wind ruffled golden curls glinting in the sun and his playful blue eyes sparkling mischievously? It was one of the hardest things that she had ever done, but she forced her face to keep its enraged expression as she continued to glare at him.

"If you value your life even the tiniest bit, you'll turn and walk away now," she ground out from between clenched teeth.

His lips twisted up into a pout. "Come on, Firefly! Don't be that way. Is there something wrong with an old friend wanting to stop by and say hi?"

A hiss slid past her lips. "You are many things, Jadeite, but you are not now, nor will you ever be an _old friend_. But you've come by and said hi, now I want you to get the hell out of here!"

"Raye! Is that any way to speak to visiting guests?" a voice admonished her, and she closed her eyes with a groan as her grandfather bustled over to them. The last thing she needed was him getting involved in this. She loved the old man to death, but he could be more meddlesome than a nosy old woman.

Grandpa came to stand between them and clasped his hands together as he addressed Jadeite. "I apologize for my granddaughter's behavior. She tends to be a little waspish from time to time."

Jadeite bowed respectfully to him and chuckled. "No apologies are needed, Mr. Hino. I'm well aware of Raye's fiery personality."

Grandpa's eyes opened wide in speculation. "Oh! So you and Raye are well acquainted with one another?"

Jadeite grinned and gave the silently fuming Raye a coy wink. "Yes sir. She and I go way back."

"I see," the short little man mused. "It seems that my beloved granddaughter has been keeping secrets from her grandpa. She never told me that she had a young, handsome, successful looking man such as yourself waiting in the wings."

"Because I don't!" Raye exploded as she stomped her foot. "Jadeite is making more out of this than what there is! I don't even like him! He is nothing but a pain in the a…butt, and I don't want to have anything to do with him!"

Jadeite threw a hand over his heart. "Ouch! Your acidic words wound me, fair lady. And here I had come to ask you if you would grace me with some of your time and accompany me to the amusement park today."

Metaphoric steam blasted out of the raven-haired girl's ears. "Did you seriously just ask me on a date?"

He shrugged. "Well, you don't have to use the word _date _if you don't want to. I just thought that it had been a long time since we got a chance to spend any time together and we could go out and enjoy the day."

Grandpa turned to look at her thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea, Raye. You're on your summer vacation and you should go out and enjoy yourself, especially with such a nice young man."

Raye's eyes narrowed. "Nice? _Nice! _He is barely one step up from demon spawn! I would become the bride of Satan himself before I would go anywhere with such a low down, lecherous moron like him! I'd rather die!" Then she turned and stomped away.

Jadeite took a few steps after her. "Raye…"

She spun around to rake a hot, contemptuous glare over him. "Just stay the hell away from me, Jadeite! I hate you!"

Her screamed words hung heavily between them for several long seconds before she whirled and began running. But Jadeite's heart sank heavily as he caught sight of a tear streaking down her cheek. Maybe he was fighting a losing battle.

The sound of a chuckle had him looking over at the man standing next to him.

Grandpa shook his head. "That girl is so much like her grandmother. I remember my dear wife screaming those exact same words to me back when we first started dating. There is a thin line between love and hate, and it must be tread cautiously."

"She seriously hates me," Jadeite grumbled under his breath.

Grandpa looked up at the troubled young man with the pain clouded blue eyes and took pity on him. "No, she doesn't. She is just trying to convince herself that she does. But I know my granddaughter well. She's just going through denial right now. But once she gets over it a completely different person will emerge. She may seem rough on the outside, but on the inside beats one of the most fiercely loving hearts I have ever seen."

Jadeite sighed. "I know."

Grandpa's wise brown eyes studied him for a moment before he nodded his head. "Yes. I believe you do. There is a connection between the two of you. It is fractured right now, but if you have the courage to stand up and weather the storm, I believe that it can be repaired."

The blonde general gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, sir."

The old man laughed. "Don't thank me yet. You're the one that will have to face the brunt of her emotions, but you look like a man that can handle it. I think you could be good for Raye. She needs someone to break down the wall of insecurity that she has built around herself. Just don't give up on her, she can be more stubborn than a mule."

Jadeite chuckled. "You're right. She's probably the most stubborn person ever born. But I'm going to try my best to wear her down."

Grandpa beamed a smile. "Good boy!"

* * *

Serena eyed the scrap of black fabric that Mina held in her hands warily. "I don't know, Mina. Don't you think that might be a little much? What about this one?" She picked up a short, white silk slip.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? I thought we were going for sultry seductress, not the sacrificial virgin. That modest little number is definitely not the way to snap Darien's self control."

Serena sighed and replaced the white slip before taking the gauzy black number from Mina. "But this one is see through."

The love goddess threw back her head and laughed. "This coming from the girl that was talking about posing nude on the bed just an hour ago! What happened to your sense of adventure, girl? Besides, it's black, so it's not that transparent. It shows just enough to give a man a hint about what's coming without looking slutty. And it's held together in the front by those red ribbons. Black and red are Darien's two favorite colors and you can totally pull it off."

Her blonde friend saw the logic in her words. This really was a more modest piece compared to some of the racier articles that they had seen. Some of them had even made Mina blush and look away. And while Serena was game to try something a little revealing, she knew she didn't have the courage to wear a corset and garter belt. That was just a little bit out of her league.

"Let me try this thing on," she grumbled. "I want to make sure I don't look like a complete idiot in it. I want to seduce Darien, not set him laughing."

She stomped into one of the dressing rooms and closed the door behind her. She quickly shimmied out of the shorts and tank top that she was wearing before slipping into the little black piece of fabric that was lighter than air. When she had finished tying together the two little red ribbons on the front she finally looked up at the full-length mirror, fully prepared to be disappointed.

Her mouth fell open in shock. Was that really her? It kind of looked like her, but different. She looked older, more sophisticated. She looked…_sexy_!

The black material was cut in a baby doll style that hung from thin shoulder straps to float down where it barely skimmed her upper thighs. It was open in the front where it was held together by the red ribbons that tied right at and right below her breasts. Her pale skin was visible through the gauzy material, but Mina had been right, all she could see was a hint of a curve here and there.

Excitement flooded through her as she continued to stare at the sexy blonde bombshell that was looking out at her from the mirror. The lacy pink thong she was wearing didn't quite match the look she was going for, but that could be easily rectified.

"Mina," she croaked, barely above a whisper. "Are you out there?"

"Of course I am," Mina's voice floated back over the door. "What's wrong?"

Serena shook her head at her reflection. "Nothing's wrong. Everything is perfect. I think we found a winner."

Mina squealed excitedly. "See! I told you to trust me, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Serena mumbled as she took one last look at herself. Mr. Darien Shields better hold on to his socks, because she was going to knock them right off.

"Okay, Serena," Mina said in a pouting tone. "Now that we have you taken care of, can we focus on me a bit? I have a date tonight, remember, and I need your help to find a new dress for the occasion. I want something that's totally going to blow Kunzite's mind."

Serena giggled at her friend's enthusiasm. "Okay, Mina. I'll be out in just a minute."

* * *

"Thank you for a wonderful afternoon," Amy said politely as she and Zoicite reached the door of her penthouse apartment. "I had a really great time."

He smiled gently at her. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

She returned his smile and nodded her head.

Zoicite had picked her up precisely one hour after she had left him at the hospital and had driven them across town to the large museum where the Ancient Egyptian exhibit that she had mentioned earlier was showing. But that exhibit was just one of many that the museum was hosting, so they had made an afternoon of it, rambling around through all of the historical artifacts and discussing them between them in low voices. Amy had even allowed him to take her hand on many occasions when he shyly reached for it and let him hold it as they walked along. When they had gotten hungry they had taken a break and had enjoyed a quiet lunch in one of the cafés that the museum had before returning to look at more things that were on display.

Now as she looked up at him, Amy felt slightly dizzy. She knew what was happening, and she didn't care. Despite her vow to not rush into anything with Zoicite, if there was indeed anything to rush into, she found herself falling quickly under his spell. She considered herself to be a practical, well-grounded person, but when she was around him all of that flew out the window.

Zoicite took a step closer to her. "I would very much like to go out with you again sometime."

She licked her suddenly dry lips. "I…I would like that too," she stammered.

"Would you have dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked softly.

"I would love to," she whispered back.

Then his arms were around her waist and his head was bending down as she went up on her tiptoes to meet him. Their lips brushed together in a short, chaste kiss.

He released her and stepped back with a smile. "So I'll see you tomorrow night around 7:00?"

She nodded dazedly. "Sure. I'll see you then."

He tossed her one last grin before walking back toward the elevator. She stood there and watched him until the doors had closed behind him before pulling out her keys and fumbling with the lock. Once inside she leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and sighed.

"So there you are," a teasing voice said from the kitchen doorway.

Amy's eyes popped open. "Mom! I didn't think you would be home already."

Dr. Mizuno giggled. "Things were quiet, so the chief of staff told me to go ahead and take off. I was pleased to find you gone when I got here. Did you take my advice and go out to enjoy the day."

"I…I went to the museum…with a friend," Amy answered hesitantly.

Her mother arched a brow. "Really? That's nice. And would this friend happen to be someone of the male gender."

Amy sat her purse down on a small table. "What are you fishing for, mom?"

The doctor's blue eyes widened innocently. "I'm not fishing for anything. It's just that the whole hospital is abuzz about this handsome young doctor that came in and inquired about a job today. And then Gina at the front desk told me that she saw you get off the elevator with him and that the two of you were jabbering away like old friends."

Amy fought the urge to grind her teeth together. She should have known that her conversation with Zoicite would get back to her mother quickly. More gossip went on in the hospital than in most beauty shops. "I've known Zoicite for a while, mom. He's a friend of Darien's and we met through him."

She wasn't exactly lying. She just wasn't telling the entire truth. She had met the general a thousand years before through Endymion, and Zoicite was Darien's friend in this time, so it was truthful enough to keep her from feeling guilty.

Dr. Mizuno wandered into the kitchen where she picked up a cup of tea that she had been letting steep. "So was Zoicite the one that you went to the museum with?"

Amy lingered in the doorway. "Yes, mom. He said something about going to the museum and I mentioned the new exhibit there that I wanted to see, so he asked me to go with him. Is that okay?"

Her mother turned to look at her thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. "It's fine. I was a little concerned at first when I found out that he is twenty-three, but I always figured that you would go out with an older, more mature man rather than some teenage boy from your school. So yes, I'm okay with it. Are you going to see him again?"

Amy blushed and nodded. "He asked me to go to dinner with him tomorrow night."

Dr. Mizuno squealed and rushed across the room to hug her daughter enthusiastically. "I can't believe it! My little girl has a date! A real, grown up date!"

* * *

Nephrite looked surprised as he opened the door to the penthouse and saw the man standing on his doorstep. "Darien! Back for a rematch so soon? Come on in."

Darien shrugged as he walked in. "I guess I'm just looking for something to do. I called Serena and asked her if she wanted to go out tonight, but she said she had plans already. I was hanging out over at Andrew's place, but his girlfriend called him from Africa so I split. I thought I'd drop by and see what you guys were up to."

"Not much," Nephrite told him as they wandered into the kitchen. "Kunzite's out. He had some hot date with Mina tonight. Zoicite came in a little while ago looking disgustingly happy. It seems he spent the afternoon in some stuffy museum with Amy. Jadeite's been pouting over something for the last few hours, so I've been trying to avoid him."

"I haven't been pouting! I've been thinking!" Jadeite growled as he walked into the room.

"That's kind of hard to do with no brain cells," Nephrite chortled.

"Go screw yourself, Neph!" the usually lighthearted blonde snarled as he flung open the refrigerator. "You want a beer, Darien?"

"Yeah, sure," Darien replied as he took a seat on a stool at the center island and accepted a frosty bottle from his friend.

Jadeite twisted the top off of his and downed half of it in about two seconds. "Why do women have to be so damn difficult?" he muttered.

"Uh oh," Darien smirked as he took a swig from his bottle. "Sounds like somebody had a run in with a certain dark haired female."

Jadeite set his drink down hard. "I didn't intend for it to be a run in, it just happened. I'm trying to play Mr. Nice Guy, so I stopped by the shrine. I figured I would just say hi and just casually ask her if she wanted to go to the amusement park. If she said no then I would just leave it at that and try again later. But she took one look at me and flew completely off the handle and pretty much called everything but a child of god. And I didn't even do anything!"

"Well at least you're getting some kind of a reaction out of her," Nephrite grumbled. "I ran into Lita at the grocery store and she pretty much ignored me. I offered her a ride home so that she wouldn't have to carry her bags all the way and she looked at me like I was something disgusting."

Darien sighed. "I don't know what to tell you guys. I've been hanging around those girls for almost three years, and they are definitely a couple of tough nuts to crack. They've even sent me running for my life on a couple of occasions whenever they think I've done something wrong toward Serena. It's amazing how scary they can be."

The other two nodded in agreement and they all sat there in thoughtful silence for a minute.

"Good evening," Zoicite almost sang as he came into the kitchen. He paused when he saw the three pensive men. "Uh oh, what's wrong?"

Nephrite snorted. "Jed and I got scorned and Darien got jilted."

Darien's head jerked up. "I did not get jilted! Serena just said that she had other plans, that's all."

But it did seem a little suspicious to him. Usually he and Serena ran into each other at least five times a day, even when they didn't mean to. They just naturally seemed to gravitate toward each other without even trying. But he hadn't seen her all day. That alone hadn't concerned him, but when he'd called her and asked if she wanted to go out and get some dinner and maybe catch a movie she had blown him off.

That had definitely made him raise an eyebrow. Serena usually dropped whatever she was doing and jumped at the chance to spend time with him whenever he asked. And she had never turned down a date before, especially where there was food involved. It was very suspicious, unless she was still mad at him about their disagreement from yesterday. But she hadn't sounded angry when he talked to her. She had sounded like her normal perky self. He had even reached out slightly with their bond to check and make sure that she was okay, and all he'd felt was happiness coming from her. He was more than likely reading too much into this. She probably had plans to hang out with the girls to watch movies and gossip, especially if Mina was indeed out on a date with Kunzite. The sailor scout rumor mill would be spinning non-stop.

"So what have you been up to, Mr. Merry Sunshine?" Jadeite grumbled to Zoicite.

"Oh, not a whole lot," the dark blonde man replied as he pulled a bottle of his own from the refrigerator. "I've just been looking up some information on different restaurants. Amy said that she'd go to dinner with me tomorrow night and I want to take her someplace nice."

"Yippee for you!" Nephrite growled.

"No doubt," Jadeite seconded. "Why don't you just do what Kunzie-poo did and bribe your way into that swank place he's taking Mina to tonight?"

"Where is he taking her?" Darien asked out of curiosity.

"Some place called _Romansque_," Zoicite told him. "But that seems to be a little bit overboard for me. Darien, are you okay?"

Darien's eyes had bugged out at his answer. "He's taking Mina to one of the most exclusive restaurants in town and didn't have to wait forever to get a reservation. How the hell did he manage that?"

Nephrite snickered. "He paid off the maitre 'd. It cost him a pretty penny too from what I understand."

Darien huffed a breath. "Geez! Just how much money do you guys have? I consider myself to be well off, but even I wouldn't pay a bunch of money to get into a restaurant."

"What does it matter how much money we have?" Jadeite sighed in a depressed tone. "Here I am living in a luxurious penthouse. I have a fat bank account and a Ferrari sitting in the garage, but the girl I love would rather kill me than look at me."

"Oookay!" Nephrite drawled. "Let's not go off the deep end there buddy. How about we go shoot a few games of pool and try to take our minds off things."

"Yeah, sure," Jadeite said as he tossed his now empty beer bottle into the trash and got another one. "You in, Dare?"

Darien shrugged. "Sure. I'll shoot a few games before I head home."

And when he got home he was going to get a good night's sleep. Then tomorrow he was going to hunt his girlfriend down and they were going to have a long talk. He was tired of this up and down ride going on between them. They needed to get everything out in the open before something big blew up in their faces. If that happened he wasn't sure if they would end up fighting or if he would end up ravishing the petite blonde.

* * *

"Would you like to come in? It's still fairly early," Mina asked as she slid her key into the lock and opened the front door to her house.

Kunzite chuckled. "Sure. If it's okay with your guard cat. I wouldn't want to set him off."

Mina giggled as she led him inside where a few lights had been left burning. "Don't worry about Artemis. He's always out with Luna at this time of night. You should be safe."

He followed her into the living room where she set her evening bag down on an end table before crossing over to flip a switch on a stereo. Soft music began playing in the background.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked. "Water, juice, brandy?"

His eyebrows rose. "You have booze in the house?"

She laughed and waved a hand toward a small bar at the end of the room. "This is my parent's house, and they keep the place fairly well stocked for when they're here and entertaining. I will admit that the girls and I have gotten into it a few times, but just a little bit. My parents never notice."

He took a long look at the vision she made standing there in that slinky, little black dress she was wearing and felt his throat go dry. He swallowed hard. "I'll take a brandy, if that's okay."

She beamed a smile. "Sure thing. Why don't you sit down while I get it."

Kunzite lowered himself onto the couch and watched while she went to the bar. Mina definitely lived up to her reputation of being Aphrodite's ancestor tonight. It wasn't just the short, spaghetti strapped dress that showed off her long legs or her waterfall of golden hair that she had left loose from her customary red bow. It wasn't even her large, luminous blue eyes that shown out from her glowing face. All of these things wrapped together to make her who she was, and he definitely believed that she was a goddess.

Mina quickly grabbed a glass and poured a couple of measures from the brandy bottle into it before grabbing a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge for herself. Kunzite had ordered wine with their meal tonight, and after a couple of glasses she was feeling a little fuzzy, so she figured she'd probably had enough for the evening. She bit back a giggle as she carried the drinks toward the sofa. She felt so mature and sophisticated by offering a man a drink in her home after such a wonderful evening.

She handed him his glass, shivering a little when their fingers brushed, and then slipped off her shoes before sitting down next to him and curling her legs under her.

Kunzite took a sip from his drink before clearing his throat. "So, do you ever get lonely living in this big place by yourself with no one other than your neurotic talking cat to keep you company?"

She laughed lightly. "Sometimes, but I'm really not here all that much except to sleep. Between school and the girls, I keep myself pretty busy most of the time. But it is nice to have a quiet place to come to whenever I need some alone time for myself. I love the girls to death, but sometimes being around Serena and Raye when they're arguing can get to be a little much."

He chuckled softly. "I know what you mean. I may seem to be overly critical of Jed because he's such a goofball, and he's really a decent guy deep down, but when he and Nephrite get to tearing into each other it's enough to drive me crazy."

They sat there for about half an hour, just talking about random things. She talked about living in London and making movies, and he told her about the company he was hoping to start. The conversation flowed as easily around them as it had during the decadent, several course meal that they had indulged in earlier.

Kunzite finally looked down at his watch and sighed as he set his empty glass on the table beside him. "It's getting late. I guess I should be going."

She sighed dramatically. "If you must, you must." Then she giggled. "Thank you again for such a wonderful evening. I still can't believe you got us into that restaurant. I never thought in a million years that I would be able to say that I have eaten there. I know it had to be dreadfully expensive though."

He put two fingers over her lips. "Hush! Don't worry about the expense. It was worth every penny. The food was great and the company even better. You looked beautiful in the candlelight."

She blushed. The blood flooding her cheeks turned them a delicate pink. As he admired the way the flush of color enhanced her beauty, he became aware of how soft her lips were under his fingers. He felt an urge to test them with his own to see exactly how soft they really were, and he acted on it. He bent his head down and replaced his fingers with his lips.

Mina gasped when his lips covered hers and something that felt like electricity arced between them. She had been kissed before, but it had never felt anything like this. She whimpered when she felt him moving away and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, plunging her fingers into the silky, silvery hair at his nape to pull his head back down so she could kiss him this time. She boldly parted her lips to lick at his with her tongue and was rewarded when he moaned and opened to let his tongue dance with hers. She tasted the faint hint of brandy on his tongue, and for some reason that fueled her urgency.

Kunzite's head spun as he found himself completely overwhelmed by Mina. He knew that he really shouldn't be surprised at her reaction to his kiss. Despite all of their reserved ways, he and Minako had always had explosive chemistry between them that ignited whenever they were alone. Mina may not be Minako exactly, but her spirit and passion were definitely there.

He knew that he should pull away and put some distance between them, but her warm, soft body felt so good pressed up against his that he couldn't bear to break the moment. With a growl he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her across him until she was straddling his hips.

Mina broke the kiss with a gasp and stared at him with passion-glazed eyes. "Kunzite…"

He immediately felt contrite. "Am I going to fast for you?"

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something and then clamped it shut before diving in and attacking his mouth with hers once more. Her hands moved from his hair to his shoulders where she pushed impatiently at the jacket of his black suit. He sat forward to make it easier for her, and they both moaned as their bodies came into more intimate contact.

Blood pounded in Mina's ears as she slid the jacket off his shoulders and down his arms. This hot, needy feeling was a new experience for her, but she had enough of Minako's memories inside her to know that this was oh so right. She tackled his tie next, unknotting it in seconds before setting to work on his shirt buttons. She had to feel the smooth skin of his chest under her fingers. She felt like she might die if she didn't.

Kunzite threw his head with a groan as his shirt was laid open and her exploring fingers trailed lightly across his chest. She wasn't a woman. She was a temptress. He heard her give a husky laugh before she bent down to run her lips and tongue across the tawny skin that she had revealed. He jerked when she nipped at his collarbone with her tiny white teeth and felt his control snap.

He shot forward, wrapping a hand in the golden silk of her hair to pull her head back so that her shimmering gaze met his. His other arm wound around her, reaching for the zipper of her dress as he whispered, "God, Minako, what you do to me!"

He realized his mistake milliseconds before she froze like a statue in his arms and her eyes filled with tears.

Mina felt like she had been doused in cold water. Anger flowed through her for the tiniest moment before the shame set in. What had she been thinking? Despite the memories she had from her past life, the reality was that she barely knew Kunzite. Sure, Minako knew him, but she wasn't the same person she had been in the past. Yet she had been crawling all over him and had been willing to let him have his way with her like a thousand years and a new lifetime didn't stand between them.

She slid off of his lap and stood on shaky legs as she attempted to hold back the tears that were burning her eyes. "I'm sorry," she puffed out between breaths. "I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have jumped at you like that."

Kunzite slumped forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he stared at her beseechingly. "Mina…"

"Don't!" she interrupted him. "Just don't, Kunzite. Perhaps we are taking things too fast between us. Minako was a huge part of your life, and I don't expect her to fade away overnight. But I'm not Minako, and I don't intend to be a replacement for her. Who do you see when you look at me?"

He stood up suddenly and took a step toward her, making her crane her head to look at him. "I see you, Mina. Maybe I got caught up in the past there for a moment, but I swear when I look at you I see you for who you are. And you are not merely a replacement for the woman I once loved. You are my other half, and I love you just the way you are."

Her tears spilled over and she allowed him to draw her against him in a tight hug. "Do you really mean that?" she murmured against his chest.

He chuckled lightly. "Of course I do. But you're probably right about us taking things too fast. As nice as tonight was we should probably stick with more normal things like grabbing a pizza and going to the movies for now. We still need to get to know each other all over again."

She nodded against him and let out a shaky laugh. "That sounds like a good idea."

He set her away from him and began straightening his clothes. He buttoned his shirt up but left it untucked and the top two buttons undone and his tie hanging loose around his neck before he picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. Then he turned back to Mina and tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. "I'm going to go now. Will I see you tomorrow?"

She flashed him a coy smile. "Why don't you give me a call tomorrow and we'll see. I haven't talked to any of the girls today except Serena, so I might need to meet up with them."

He patted his pocket where his cell phone rested. "I have your number. I'll call you."

"Not too early!" she called after him as he walked toward the front door. "I like to sleep in whenever I can."

His chuckle floated back to her. "Goodnight, Mina." Then the front door closed behind him.

Mina stood there for a moment, staring at the door, before throwing herself onto the sofa and giggling as she pressing one hand to her still pounding heart and another to her burning lips. Good God that man could kiss! And if she could ever succeed in overshadowing Minako it had the potential for turning into so much more

* * *

Serena shifted her position for what felt like the hundredth time and glared at the alarm clock on the bedside table that read 11:00. Where the hell was Darien? She had figured that he would have been home quite some time ago since she had turned down his offer for a date tonight so she could pop her little surprise on him. She knew that he wasn't with Andrew because when she had stopped by the arcade earlier to get a milkshake to help fortify her courage Lizzy had informed her that Andrew was upstairs in his apartment alone talking to Rita on the phone and that Darien had been there, but had left.

That left the possibility that he was with the generals. She knew Kunzite was out on his date with Mina, but from the two furious phone calls she had gotten today from Raye and Lita and the one ecstatic one she had gotten from Amy it was probably safe to assume that the other three guys were free for the evening. She just hoped that they didn't have some all night guy bash going on. That would ruin everything.

She groaned when she felt a pins and needles sensation shooting up her leg and climbed off the bed to walk around Darien's bedroom to try and get rid of the feeling. This was the third time her leg had fallen asleep while she had been sitting there waiting for her boyfriend to come home.

She paused as she passed by the dresser, and then smiled as she looked at the framed picture that was sitting on top of it. It had been taken almost two years ago, and in it Darien stood in the middle with his arm wrapped around her waist while Rini was clinging tightly to his other arm. Mina had snapped the picture of the three of them and then had cooed that they looked like a cute little family.

But Serena disagreed with her friend's assessment. While this particular picture was one of her favorites, she could help but think that Darien looked like a big brother spending time with his little sisters in it. She had only been just barely fifteen when this picture was taken, and she couldn't help but compare how childish she looked standing next to her much more mature boyfriend.

Well all of that was about to change. She flung open the closet door to check her reflection in the full-length mirror and then smiled at what she saw. There definitely wasn't much left of the gawky, middle school girl in the young woman that was looking back at her.

Okay, so she was still painfully short when compared to her 6'2" boyfriend, and she wished that she would grow just a couple of more inches so that she wouldn't have to stand on her tiptoes quite as much and Darien wouldn't have to bend over as far when they kissed just to make up the ten inch difference in their height, but there were several other changes that had taken place in her body over the last few years. Her face had lost the roundness of childhood, making her cheeks and the rest of her features become more defined. Her body had curves now instead of just falling in a straight line; her hips were softly rounded and after a couple of years of moaning that she was going to be in a training bra forever she had finally grown into a nice, healthy B-cup. She did have long legs for her height, and thanks to all the exercise she had gotten from being Sailor Moon her legs, stomach, and arms were well toned.

She never used the word beautiful to describe herself, although Darien told her that she was all the time and her friends were always quick to pay her a compliment, but overall she was happy with the way she looked. She was proud of her long golden hair and always took the time to keep it well conditioned and free of split ends so she could wear it long and not look like someone had taken a weed whacker to her head. She was also grateful that she had been blessed with a clear complexion that needed very little cosmetics, although she did wish that the light scattering of golden freckles across her nose would go away. Her eyes were almost too big for her liking, standing out large and blue in her slender face, but tonight they looked sultry and mysterious thanks to the smoky shadow and touch of eyeliner she had applied to them. They glittered from above her full lips that were a duskier, darker shade of pink than normal thanks to the lip stain she had used. The saleslady at the store had guaranteed her that it wouldn't rub off no matter how much kissing she did.

So yeah, tonight, for once, she felt like she was a compliment to her tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome prince. Confidence like she had never felt before brewed inside of her. Some girls might be nervous about trying to lure a man into bed, especially if they were virgins with absolutely no experience in this area, but she was ready. Tonight the reincarnated moon princess was going to stake her claim on her dear earth prince…if he would ever get home!

Then she heard it, the rattle of a key in the lock, and she raced across the floor to climb back onto the king sized bed and positioned herself in the middle of the black silk sheets with her legs curled under her. She had practiced this pose in front of a mirror and found it to be both innocent and seductive at the same time.

She watched the bedroom doorway intently, waiting for him to appear. She heard him moving around and she could picture his movements perfectly in her mind. There was a light jangle as he set his keys on the table in the entry hall and two thumps as he kicked his shoes off. Muffled footsteps walked into the kitchen and then the sound of the refrigerator door opening and the soft crack of a bottle of water being opened reached her. There were two thuds as the refrigerator door was closed and the now empty water bottle was pitched into the trash. Then more muted footsteps went from the kitchen to the living room and were followed by the sound of the lamp burning in there being clicked off. Now the footsteps were coming down the hall.

Serena licked her lips in anticipation. In just a few seconds her prince would come through that door, and it would be time to put her plan into action. She geared herself up for the fight that was sure to come, because she knew that there was no way that Darien was going to give in without some resistance, no matter how sexy she looked. That was just the way he was.

Her breath froze in her lungs as his dark shape appeared in the doorway and she heard him mutter, "What the hell? I don't remember opening the curtains."

She fought back a giggle. Of course he didn't. She had done it. The moon was almost full and bright tonight. She had shoved the curtains wide to let the silvery glow flood the room, thinking that it added to the romantic air. It was much more personal to her than lamplight or candlelight. Then she felt the fissure that ran through the air when he spotted her.

Darien felt his lungs constrict when he saw the blonde girl currently sitting in the middle of his bed with a curtain of golden hair falling around her. "Serena, what are you doing here?"

She let out a throaty chuckle. "I just wanted to spend some time with you. That's okay, isn't it?"

His feet automatically carried him to the side of the bed. "Um…well…I thought you had plans with the girls tonight. At least that was what I figured when you turned down my invitation earlier."

She shook her head. "I just said that I had plans. I never said that it was with the girls."

"O…oh…" he stammered, his poor muddled brain trying to catch up with this unexpected turn of events. "I was going to call you in the morning because I think we need to have a talk."

He knew that she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about, and he waited for her expression to turn angry and defensive the way it had the day before. But surprisingly she just smiled and tossed her head, sending her long sheet of hair sailing over her shoulder to her back.

'_Holy Shit!' _

Those were the only words that came into his head as he got his first good look at her. Her hair was down out of its usual style and had been covering her up until now. He had figured that she was wearing her usual summer attire of shorts and a tank top under the concealing hair, but this…What the hell was she wearing? It was skimpy. It was black. And oh my god! It looked like it might be see through!

He swallowed hard to try and force the heart that had leapt up into his throat back down where it belonged and shoved a hand into his hair to keep from grabbing her. Was she trying to kill him?

"Serena, what are you doing?" he croaked.

She got up on her knees in front of him and ran her hands down the barely there material. "Do you like it? I was thinking of you when I bought it. I know black and red are your favorite colors, so I just had to have it." Then she licked her lips lightly.

Belatedly, warning bells began blaring in the back of Darien's head as he realized that he had walked right into a trap. He had been worried all evening that Serena was mad at him, but instead she had been planning this…seduction. He couldn't handle this. He had to get her out of here before he…

He gritted his teeth and grabbed her arm. "It's late, Serena. Why don't you change and I'll take you home or to one of the girls' places, okay?"

He pulled on her arm and she surprised him by leaping at him, wrapping herself around him like a spider monkey. Her legs locked around his waist while her slender arms wound around his neck. Then her hot little mouth was at his ear as she whispered, "But I don't want to leave. I want to stay here with you."

He couldn't hold back a groan as he felt her lips traveling down his neck as she alternated between nipping and sucking. His head spun. This was crazy. It was out of control. And he needed to end it.

"Serena, stop," he pled in a helpless sounding voice.

She raised her head to look at him with smoldering eyes. "Do you want me, Darien?"

He put his hands at her waist and pushed against her, trying to dislodge her body from his, but she didn't budge. "Be serious, Serena."

"I am being serious," she drawled in a low tone. "Very, very serious. Do you want me?" Then she rubbed her chest against his.

Fire exploded inside of him and he began to panic. He was losing the fight. If this kept up for another minute he was going to toss her onto the bed and make love to her until neither one of them could move for a week. "Serena, please," he tried again.

She surprised him by letting him go. Another groan rumbled in his throat as her body slid down his until her feet touched the floor. She took a step back and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not asking you a hard question, Darien. It's very simple. Do you want me or not?"

He couldn't stop his eyes from roaming hungrily over her; drinking the beautiful vision she made standing there with her hair tumbling around her. The get up she was wearing was definitely see through. He could see the roundness of her hips and even the curve of her breasts. And good god! She was wearing a black thong that was hardly more than a scrap of lace!

He met her demanding eyes and knew that he couldn't lie to her. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. "Yes, Serena, I want you. I want you more than anything."

The sultry smile reappeared on her face and she jumped at him, calling on just enough of her scout energy to be able to knock back onto the bed. He landed with an "oof" and she scrambled on top of him to straddle his hips.

He looked up at her in wide-eyed shock. "Wait a minute! Just because I said that I want you doesn't mean that we should do this. There are so many things to consider."

She arched a brow as she looked down at him. "Such as?"

He tried to pull his thoughts together. "Um…protection! We have to think about that."

She tossed her head and laughed. "Taken care of. I've been on the Pill since I was thirteen."

His eyes jerked up to hers. "What?"

She looked amused. "I said that I've been on birth control for years. I used to have really painful cramps so my doctor suggested it. And unless you were lying to me before about the number of women that you've been with, we don't have to worry about diseases."

Damn! That defense was shot down. So he latched onto the next one he could think of. "What about your dad? He'll kill me if I take away your innocence. You're only sixteen."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about daddy. I'm not about to go running to him and tell him that I'm having sex. And even if he did find out, my mom would keep him under control. He shouldn't be so hypocritical anyway. Did you know that he is seven years older than my mother? She was fifteen and he was twenty-two when they started dating. And though mom has never flat out said anything, I've picked up on the hints that they didn't exactly have a celibate relationship. And as far as my age goes, I am almost seventeen and over the age of consent, so I can sleep with whoever I want. Any other excuses that you would like to throw out there?"

He ground the heels of his hands against his eyes and groaned. She was wearing him down. Those had been his two biggest defenses against her, and they had now been rendered useless. He tried to think of another excuse, but everything sounded so weak. Maybe he should go ahead and give in. It was what he really wanted to do anyway. Everything she had said made perfect sense and they had a stable, steady relationship. So why shouldn't they go to the next level?

Serena leaned forward, her hair falling around them like a curtain, and pulled his hands from his eyes. He looked up into her shimmering pools of blue and felt himself get sucked right in.

"I love you, Darien," she whispered softly. "I love you so much. And I want to be with you so badly that I ache inside. I want you to make me yours in every sense of the word." Then her lips were on his.

He couldn't help but respond. He brought one hand up to lay against the side of her neck while the other one tunneled under her mass of hair to cradle the back of her head. His lips turned just as greedy as hers were being as they both drank deeply from each other.

But when he tasted a salty wetness he pulled back to look at her. A few tears had spilled from her eyes to roll down her cheeks. He brushed them away with his thumbs. "Baby, we don't have to do this."

"But I want to," she barely breathed. "I meant what I said. I want to be yours. Please, love me."

"I do," he reassured her huskily. "I love you more than anything in the world. You are my very reason for living."

"Make love to me, please," she begged, her lips brushing his. "I feel like a part of me is missing. Make me feel whole."

She won. That whispered plea did more to break down his final defenses better than any amount of seduction ever could. He lifted his head to capture her lips once more as he rolled them over until she was under him.

The kiss started off gentle, but grew more frantic as the seconds passed. When he felt her hands pulling up his t-shirt he lifted himself slightly and allowed her to whisk it over his head and toss it away. Then he fell back on her where he attacked her ear, swirling his tongue around it before nipping at her lobe. He smirked to himself when he heard her breath hiccup.

Then he dragged his lips down the pale column of her neck, scraping his teeth against her delicate skin here and there. By the time he reached where the first red ribbon was tied she was gasping.

He raised his head to look at her. "Are you really sure about this?"

She nodded rapidly. "Oh, yes! Please, Darien!"

With a few flicks of his fingers he had both ties open and the material parted. He pulled back to get his first sight of his princess in all of her glory. She was beautiful. The moonlight from the window bathed her, making her skin shimmer like silver. He took a few moments run his hands over her; testing the softness of the skin he had never allowed himself to touch before.

Serena moaned and arched her back as she felt his hands on her breasts for the first time without a barrier of cloth between them. This was heaven. No, it was better than heaven. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the newfound sensations coursing through her. She nearly jumped out of her skin a moment later when she felt his mouth replace his hand. Good grief! Just when she thought the feelings couldn't get any better, they did. She sighed his name as she ran her fingers through his silky black hair.

After a minute he left her chest and made his way back up to her lips where he gave her what had to be the deepest and hottest kiss he ever had. Even the kiss they had shared in his bathroom the other night paled in comparison. A convulsive shiver ran through her when she felt his fingers on her inner thighs, kneading and massaging.

She skimmed her hands down his bare back and then managed to work them in between them where she wrestled with his belt for few seconds before it came loose. A low groan reverberated from his mouth to hers and his hips thrust forward slightly at the feel of her hands at his waist. Just seconds later she the button of his jeans undone and the zipper slid down.

Darien pulled back with a hiss of breath as he felt her busy little fingers at the waistband of his boxers. He grasped both of her wrists and pulled her arms over her head where he pinned them to the bed. His face was flushed and his breathing erratic as he growled, "Let's slow this down just a little bit. We have all night, princess."

Serena smiled up at him wickedly before lifting her hips to brush sensuously against his. "Well why don't you show me, my prince?"

* * *

**A/N **So there you have it! Serena and Darien have hooked up at last! Yay! Now maybe our dear earth prince will loosen up some and stop causing so much tension. He has been driving me absolutely insane for the last few chapters. And things are starting to heat up between our other couples as well. Mina and Amy have taken some huge steps forward with Kunzite and Zoicite, but Raye and Lita are still being stubborn. Poor Jadeite and Nephrite! Maybe their break will come soon. More on all of our favorite little couples is coming up in the next chapter. Don't be shy, hit that button and tell me what you thought. I absolutely adore reviews! See ya next update! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	10. Cold Drinks and Hot Tempers

**A/N **So here I finally am with an update. Sorry about the wait, but I have been super slammed lately. As those of you that read GT are probably aware from my last posting there, I had to put my 16 year old dog to sleep recently and it's been really hard to say goodbye to someone that has been such a huge part of my life. But enough with that sob story! Anyway, I also work at a school, and springtime means achievement test time! So needless to say that I've been busy with getting ready for that. But I did manage to scrape this chapter together for you. I hope you like it. Let me get my hugs out so you can get on with it. BIG HUGS TO:

**jade2nightwing**

**Angelstar14**

**sabina21**

**Chibi Kitt**

**blk0912**

**Atem's Sisiter Atea**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**Seredhiel05**

**Shinobi of life**

**SammieAtHome**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**saveme57**

**shar1993**

**samsox**

**Tiny2008**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**KageNoNeko**

**LadyRosalie29**

**YingYing**

**tryntee13**

**unlockurdestiny**

**gots2luv**

**anime-lover10**

**AyameRose**

**GoldenDragom326**

**v**

**rainbabie**

**inufan155687**

**Kelly**

**Katie**

**sailorashes**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**Bookworm0913**

Whew! I think that might be the longest list I've ever had, but I'm not complaining! I think everyone seemed to be pleased that Serena and Darien finally…ummm…shook the sheets. There's no warning for this chapter. The hanky panky has been laid to rest…for now. But I still have four other couples to play with. Fun! Now I'm going to let you get on with it.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 10

Cold Drinks and Hot Tempers

* * *

"Well now, don't you two look disgustingly cheerful today," Andrew said with a smirk as he sat a cup of coffee and a chocolate milkshake on the table. "And you're both hiding back here in the corner like a couple of recluses. I'm offended! You used to hang out at the counter and keep me company."

Serena raised her head from Darien's shoulder to beam one of her 1000-watt smiles at him. "Sorry, Drew. It's just that the booths are so much more comfortable than the stools at the counter."

Andrew cast an appraising look over the petite blonde, taking in the light purple shadows under the hazy, slightly out of focus blue eyes and the way her pink lips seemed to be a little fuller than usual, almost swollen looking. A quick glance at Darien showed him to be a little dazed looking as well.

The sandy blonde man snickered to himself. It looked like his two friends had enjoyed a very pleasant Saturday night together. "Sooo, I guess you guys got over your little argument you were having the other day."

Darien was careful to keep his face impassive as he reached for his cup of coffee. He was well aware of his best friend's habit of gossiping and he sure didn't want to add any fuel to the fire burning in those inquisitive hazel eyes. "It wasn't an argument, it was a disagreement. And yes, we worked things out."

Serena began giggling uncontrollably and turned her face to muffle the sound in Darien's shoulder, causing his lips to twitch just a bit like he was fighting to hold back a laugh.

"Uh huh," Andrew muttered, clearly not convinced that things were as simple as Darien made them sound. "Anyway, can I get you guys anything to eat, or are you two just going to sit here acting goofy and making goo goo eyes at each other?"

Darien rolled his eyes. "I'll have a burger with the works and fries."

Serena's head popped up and her eyes sparkled at the mention of food. "Make mine a cheeseburger with pickles only and cheese fries. Ooo, and an order of onion rings and a slice of chocolate pie."

Andrew chuckled and couldn't help but tease. "Hmm…looks like somebody worked up a healthy appetite."

"What do you…" Serena began and then blushed fire engine red as she caught the double meaning of his words. "Oh!" She buried her face in Darien's shoulder once more.

Darien growled low in his throat. "Furuhata…"

Andrew jumped back from the table with his hands held up in surrender. "I was joking! I'm going to go put your orders in now." As he walked away he looked back over his shoulder with mischievous grin. "Actually, I take that back. I wasn't joking. You two definitely look like a couple that has pulled an all-nighter. You animals!" Then he laughed long and loud.

"That drama queen! I'm going to kill him!" Darien snarled and half rose out of his seat.

Serena put her weight against him and pushed him back down. "Oh, let it go, sweetie! Drew's been picking on us like that for a long time. You should be used to it by now."

"That was before it was actually true," Darien grumbled as he folded his arms across his chest.

Serena giggled and turned to wrap her arms around his neck. "It's not entirely true. We did get some sleep, just not a whole lot." Then she smothered a yawn behind her hand. "Why did we leave your apartment again?"

He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. "Because you said that you were hungry and I didn't have any food in the kitchen because I haven't had the chance to do my grocery shopping yet. Then when I suggested having something delivered you claimed that you wanted a milkshake. So here we are."

"I must have been delirious," she sighed. "You should have known better than to listen to me. I wasn't in my right mind."

Darien's eyes twinkled merrily. "I don't think either one of us have been in our right minds for about the last twelve hours or so."

Serena's breath caught as she felt his hand under the table squeeze her thigh lightly right above her knee. "Is that such a bad thing?" she asked on a gasp.

His gaze darkened as he watched her cheeks flush. "No. It's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it may be slightly…addicting." He leaned down and nipped at her earlobe.

She squealed and scooted slightly away from him. "You just keep your hands and lips to yourself right now, mister! I'm hungry!"

He smiled wickedly. "I am too."

She held up a hand to ward him off as he tried to move closer to her. "I mean I'm hungry for _food_, genius. Stop that!" she cried as he kissed her fingertips. "If you don't knock it off I'm going to move to the counter so I can have my lunch in peace."

"Okay, okay," he conceded and sat back to take a sip of his coffee. "I'll be good. But later…" he trailed off suggestively.

Serena rolled her eyes and muttered, "Great Selene! You give a guy one night of sex and he turns into a giant walking hormone."

"But what a night it was," Darien chuckled, causing her to blush violently as she thought back over the events of the overnight and early morning hours.

The red finally faded from her cheeks and she reached for her milkshake just as the arcade doors slid open to admit a flying mass of tangled golden hair.

Mina stood frozen in the middle of the floor, staring around with panicked blue eyes until her gaze landed on the back booth. "There you are!" she screeched as she ran over to where Serena and Darien were sitting. She practically fell into the seat across from them.

"Mina! What in the world happened to you?" Serena exclaimed as she took in the unusually wild hair and the sloppily thrown on shorts and t-shirt. But what hit her most were the red, swollen, tear filled eyes.

"I've been trying to call you, but you had your phone turned off," Mina gasped. "I've been going crazy for hours needing to talk to you, so I thought I would take a chance and see if you were here."

"Okay, calm down," Serena said soothingly as she leaned across the table and covered Mina's tightly clenched hands with her own. "Take a deep breath. Now what's going on? Did something happen last night?"

That was obviously the wrong thing to say, because Mina burst into sobs and wailed, "It was absolutely wonderful until…" Then her eyes fixed on Darien. "I'm not saying anything with him here!"

Serena cocked her head toward the counter and then slid out of the booth to let Darien out. She grabbed his hand and whispered, "Sorry about this."

He squeezed her hand back. "It's fine. She needs you. She's definitely upset about something."

"Thanks," Serena said and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Do you think you could have Lizzy bring a milkshake over for her? Lizzy, not Drew. This is obviously a girl thing."

Those were the magic words to send Darien scrambling away. He grabbed his cup of coffee and almost ran toward the counter and hopefully some normal male company.

Serena sat back down and eyed her head scout critically. "Okay, spill! This is way out of the norm for you. It's 11:45 on a Sunday morning and you look like you just rolled out of bed after a really bad night's sleep. You usually sleep until at least noon and I've never known you to leave your house without having your hair, make up, and clothes absolutely perfect. So what happened? Did Kunzite do something to you?"

Mina stared down at her clasped fingers. "Not exactly. It was a great evening. We had a fabulous dinner and we talked for hours. Then he took me home and I asked him in for a drink and we talked some more."

"Okay," Serena said, not seeing anything too incriminating so far, but she knew something had to have happened to put Mina in such a state. "What else?"

Mina heaved a deep breath. "He was getting ready to leave and I was thanking him for the wonderful night, and then he kissed me."

"Really!" Serena squealed. "That's great! I just knew you two would hit it off again."

"Don't get your meatballs twisted too tight!" Mina snapped uncharacteristically. "There's more to it than that."

That made Serena pause. "What do you mean more?" Then her eyes widened. "Omigosh! You don't mean…I know you two are soul mates and all. But on the first date!"

"No, no, no!" Mina said hastily. Then she blushed. "Well almost. I don't know what happened. When he kissed me it was just like something _zinged _between us. The next thing I knew I was crawling all over him."

"But nothing happened, right?" Serena reiterated.

Mina shook her head. "No. But it might have if he hadn't…" She broke off, eyes filling with tears again.

"If he hadn't what?" Serena growled. If Kunzite had done something to hurt her friend she would hunt him down and kill him herself.

"He called me Minako," Mina whispered in a trembling voice.

Well that hadn't been what Serena was expecting. "Okay. Is that all he did?"

Mina banged her hands on the table. "Don't you see, Serena? He was fantasizing about my past self while he was kissing me." She paused as Lizzy approached the table and set a milkshake in front of her.

The red haired girl clucked her tongue. "Guy trouble? Welcome to my world. Personally, I think they're all idiots."

"Thanks for the milkshake, Lizzy," Serena said as cheerfully as ever, but there was a definite tone in her voice that said that this was a private conversation. It was nothing personal against the girl, but it was a well-known fact that the entire Furuhata family were huge gossips, and she was pretty sure that Mina didn't want this story getting around.

"So let me get this straight," she began once they were alone again. "Things were getting hot and heavy between you two until he slipped up and called you Minako. Then that just threw ice water on the whole thing."

Mina nodded as she slurped on the milkshake. Then she shook her head. "Not exactly. It just kinda snapped us out of the moment. Then we talked and we both agreed that we need to take things a little slower between us."

Serena sipped thoughtfully on her milkshake. "Well that seems like the logical thing to do. So what's the problem?"

Mina set the already half empty glass down with a thump. "The problem is that he is confusing me with my past self. I don't want to be a replacement for who I was before. I want to make sure that he is with me for _me. _He had me so mixed up last night that I couldn't sleep. Every time I dozed off I kept having these dreams. I don't know if they were real memories of the past or if they were just figments of my imagination, but they were…very detailed, and he called me Minako the whole time."

"Look, Mina," Serena replied, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. "Some slips into the past are bound to occur. Darien and I even slipped up a couple of times last night and called each other Serenity and Endymion. Sometimes your subconscious mind just takes over and you can't help it."

A hint of a grin lightened up Mina's face. "How did last night go anyway?"

Serena waved a dismissive hand. "Mission accomplished. But we're not talking about me right now. We're talking about you. Now don't take this the wrong way, but I think you're over-thinking this whole name confusion thing. If I were you I would put it behind me and move on. Kunzite is definitely aware of who you are and I don't think he would have asked you out if he wasn't interested in the real you."

A hopeful smile appeared on Mina's face. "Do you really think so?"

"I'd be willing to bet the Silver Crystal on it," Serena said confidently.

Mina let out an ear-piercing squeal and jumped up from her seat to run around to the other side of the booth where she gave Serena an enthusiastic hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You are the absolute best! I knew talking to you would make me feel better! I couldn't go to Raye or Lita because the whole guy subject is taboo with them right now. And poor Amy is so innocent that she'd probably just blush and stutter through the whole thing before trying to give me some long, drawn out scientific explanation that I could never hope to understand."

Serena laughed. "I'm glad I could help."

Then Mina happened to look up and caught sight of her reflection in the large plate glass window beside them. "OH MY GOD! Is that what I look like?" she screeched. "I can't believe you sat here carrying on a conversation with me while I look like this! Why didn't you put a bag over my head? I have to get home before somebody sees me. Oh! And what am I going to do if Kunzite calls and says that he wants to see me? He said that he probably would. It's going to take ten pounds of concealer to cover up these dark circles. Sorry, Serena, but I've got to run!" She whirled for the door.

"Hey, Mina!" Serena called after her. "Keep it in a public place for now, okay."

Mina fluttered a hand to indicate the she'd heard her, and then almost mowed right over Amy, who was coming in the door as she was going out.

Darien had been in the process of getting up off of his stool to rejoin Serena, but he sat back down again as he saw the blue haired girl hurry over and take Mina's abandoned seat across from his girlfriend. It looked like some more girl talk was on the way.

"Hey, Ames," Serena said as her quiet friend sat down. Then she did a double take as she took a good look at her. "You look pale, Amy. Are you feeling okay?"

Amy shook her head slightly. "No. Not really. My stomach is so squirmy that I almost feel sick."

"Did you want a soda or something to if that would help?" Serena asked in concern.

Again the blue head shook. "No, thank you anyway. That would just probably make things worse. I don't think anything could drown the butterflies in my stomach right now."

Serena smirked. "This wouldn't happen to be because you have a date with a certain blonde general tonight, would it?"

Amy's face actually turned a faint shade of green as she moaned and laid her head on the table. "Oh! Don't remind me!"

Serena looked confused. "What's the matter? I thought things were going well between you and Zoicite."

Amy lifted her head. "They are. He's been very nice and we are getting along fine."

"So what's the problem then?" Serena asked, perplexed.

Amy's blue eyes widened until they almost took up her entire face. Then she whispered, "Serena, I've never been on a date before."

Serena almost choked on the sip of milkshake she had just taken. "That's not true! Greg took you to the amusement park that time."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and the rest of you girls were with me. That doesn't qualify as a date. He never even held my hand."

"Well," Serena mused. "What about yesterday? Doesn't that count?"

"That was just a trip to the museum. That was different," Amy protested.

"That's not what I picked up on," Serena insisted. "He came to your place and picked you up, didn't he?"

Amy nodded.

"And you had lunch together, didn't you?" Serena continued.

Another nod.

Serena leaned forward. "And it was just the two of you together, alone. And he took you back home. That sounds like a date to me."

"But…but…" Amy stammered.

Serena's eyes glittered. "Did you kiss him?"

Amy's face went brick red and she looked like she was about to slide from the seat and under the table.

"You did!" Serena said smugly. Then her expression turned serious. "Look, Ames. You've been my friend for a long time and I think of you like a sister. All I want is for you to be happy. Do you want to try to have a relationship with Zoicite?"

Amy's head snapped up and she met Serena's eyes steadily. "Yes. I wasn't sure at first, but after spending some time with him I have discovered that I care for him. Not because of what we had in the past, but because I truly like who he is."

Serena sat back with a look of satisfaction. "Then you don't have anything to worry about. All you have to do is be yourself. Now I would suggest that you go home and maybe take a few hours nap. You don't look like you slept well last night. After that you can get yourself dressed up in one of those cute little dresses you have hanging in your closet and then go out and have fun. We're only going to be this age once, so we should enjoy it while we can. There's plenty of time for us to be responsible adults later in life."

Amy smiled and, much more sedately than Mina had, got up to go around the table to hug her friend. "Thanks, Serena. You always know what to say to make me feel better. Now I see your lunch coming so I'm going to run. I have preparations to make."

"See ya!" Serena called, waving after her. She moaned a few seconds later as Darien and Andrew approached the table and the smell of hot, delicious food wafted past her nose. "Omigosh! I don't think I've ever smelled anything more heavenly in my entire life. Drew, you are an absolute god!"

Andrew laughed as he started setting plates on the table. "Can I get that written out in a signed statement so I can show it to my sister the next time she calls me the devil?"

"That wouldn't matter to me. You're still evil," Lizzy sneered as she walked by.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "She's still mad because dad and I chased off her latest loser boyfriend. The bum was a high school dropout and had no job, but somehow seemed to still have money. We're pretty sure he was dealing drugs. I wish she would just find some nice guy on campus instead of these assholes she hooks up with at the clubs."

Serena, who had wasted no time tearing into her food, chewed rapidly and then swallowed before cooing, "Aww…you're such a good big brother. Sometimes I wish I'd had a big brother instead of a little one. Can I trade Sammy for you?"

He chuckled and pulled one of her pigtails. "I thought you had already adopted me back when you were ten and I stopped that boy from trying to bully you away from the Pac-Man game."

"Could you two please stop flirting? I would like to eat my lunch without getting indigestion," Darien grumbled, but it was in a good-natured way. He knew they weren't really flirting with one another. They just both had naturally friendly personalities; and they had been friends long before he had come into the picture. Besides, Andrew had a girlfriend.

That reminded him. "Hey, Drew. I forgot to ask how Rita's doing since you talked to her last night."

Was it his imagination, or did the bright smile on his friend's face flicker just a little? His eyes suddenly seemed a little bit duller as well.

Andrew shrugged. "She's okay, I guess. She sounded exhausted and really didn't say a whole lot. I think I ended up doing most of the talking. They're really piling the work on her since she's nearing the end of her course and I guess it's taking a toll on her."

Then he seemed to shake himself and laughed. "If I know her, she's probably working herself too hard. She probably would have dropped from exhaustion back in high school if I hadn't made her take a break every now and then. But that's okay, in another two months she'll be back here where I can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't overdo it. Oops! The counter is getting crowded. I better go help Lizzy before she starts yelling at me."

Serena watched as he hurried away. "Is it just me, or did you sense a little tension there?"

"Yeah," Darien muttered. "I guess being apart from Rita for so long is finally starting to get to him since it's getting closer to time for her to come back."

"Poor guy," Serena said softly. Then she blushed when her stomach let out the loudest growl yet and turned her attention back to her food.

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped to both her vocal stomach and her snickering boyfriend.

* * *

Raye gritted her teeth as the sound of laughter floated to her on the early afternoon breeze. Her grip around the broom tightened and she swiped viciously at the sakura blossoms on the ground, causing them to fly around wildly instead of being pushed into a neat pile.

"That rotten, no good, lousy bastard! Just what the hell is he trying to pull?" she growled to herself.

To say that this had not been a good day would be an understatement. She had hoped against all hope that after she had told Jadeite off the afternoon before and had stormed away that she had seen the last of him. He had been gone by the time she had gotten back from her hiding spot in the back corner of the property where she had gone to have a good cry and figured that he had finally gotten the hint that she didn't want him around.

Boy had she been wrong! The morning had gone normally enough. She had gotten up early and taken care of a few chores before helping Chad set up the charm booth. Once that was done she had decided to walk down to the store at the bottom of Cherry Hill and pick up some things that they needed. She had only been gone about an hour, but what a difference that hour made.

When she had come back she had been floored to find Jadeite sitting with both her grandfather and Chad, sipping tea and laughing with them like they were old friends. She had stood completely still in shock for a full minute until Chad had looked up at her and said, "Hey, Raye! Where did you find this guy? He's an absolute riot!"

Jadeite had just grinned and winked at her, sending her temper straight into volcanic mode. Her mouth had popped open to spew angry words like hot lava, but before she could her grandfather interrupted her.

"Now don't go getting your temper up. Jadeite is here by my invitation," the old man had said smoothly. "You just run along and do whatever it is that you have planned for the day while we men visit."

Well that had knocked the wind right out of her sails. She'd started to protest, but her grandfather had given her a stern look that had clearly told her that he wouldn't condone any of her temper tantrums. It was a look that he hadn't used on her since she was a child, but she knew better than to argue with him. All in all he had been lenient with her while she was growing up, but he could be strict when he had to be and she respected him too much to be disobedient. So she had bitten her tongue and walked away.

Now here she was a few hours later…and he was still there! Granted he hadn't tried to approach her or even speak to her, but his presence was as unnerving as hell!

She abandoned her broom and fished her cell phone from the pocket of her robes. She needed to talk to somebody before self imploded. She frowned as she looked through her contacts. Mina was no good. She would just go on about soul mates and encourage her to jump Jadeite. Amy, bless her heart, was too sweet and innocent for her own good. Lita was always good for a round of man bashing, but that probably wasn't the best thing for her temper right now.

That left Serena. She was the logical choice actually. Even though she had been one of the major players behind this whole fiasco of bringing the generals back to life in the first place, she had a kind and loving heart. She was someone that Raye could spill her guts to and not have her be overly critical or judgmental. She would listen quietly and then offer her thoughts. And amazingly some sound advice usually came out of the Meatball Head.

She pressed the button to dial her and put the phone to her ear. But after just one ring the call was forwarded to voicemail. That meant one of two things. Either the ditz had let her battery die, or she was holed up with Darien and they were in their own little world. But considering the last time that she had seen the couple they had been ready to practically strangle each other for some reason, there was also the possibility that Serena had turned her phone off to avoid Darien. Despite their unwavering devotion to each other, the couple was known to have spats every now and then that could last a few days.

"Ugh!" she growled. "Most of the time I can't get that airhead off the phone! Now the one time that I need to talk to her I can't get her on the phone! This day just keeps getting better and better."

The smell of something burning drifted past her nose, and she looked down to see smoke rising from her tightly clenched fist. She forced her hand open and shook it briskly to cool it off while she glanced around quickly. There were a few people strolling around the grounds, but luckily none of them were close enough to her to have seen anything suspicious.

She heaved a sigh of relief. That had been a close one. Another ten seconds and her hand would have probably burst into flames. That kind of a spectacle would have really sent the neighborhood tongues to wagging. She already had a reputation for being…different. She sure didn't need to do anything to add to the speculations.

But perhaps fire was exactly what she needed right now. Meditating usually had a calming effect on her, as long as the fire didn't show her any disturbing visions. But since Jadeite had been released from the curse the Great Fire had been very calm and soothing to her, and she craved its comfort.

She hurried toward the building that she had called home for so long, keeping her eyes peeled for a certain blonde haired nuisance. Things had been quiet for the last couple of minutes with no more sound of that smooth tenor voice or his husky chuckle. Maybe he had finally left. That would make her day. She spotted her grandfather and Chad over by the charm booth, surrounded by a small group of visitors, but there was no Jadeite to be seen.

She blew out a pent up breath and felt a little lighter. Perhaps she could salvage what was left of this day. She would go meditate for a while to get her head back on straight and then she would change her clothes and wander down to the Crown for a milkshake. More than likely she would run into at least one of the girls there. The arcade was like a second home to them, and they always seemed to gravitate there for some reason.

She climbed onto the wooden porch and walked swiftly to the door of the fire chamber. She slid it open and welcomed the rush of intense heat that wrapped around her. Most people would find it unbearable, especially on a hot summer day like today, but she relished it.

She quickly closed the door behind her and slipped off her sandals before crossing the rather large room and sinking to her knees in front of the crackling fire. She clasped her hands together and mumbled a short prayer as she closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander. She didn't focus on anything in particular. She wasn't searching for an answer to a question; she was merely looking for some solace from her conflicting thoughts.

But even with all of her years of training, she couldn't push Jadeite completely out of her head. An image of how he had appeared in the past popped up and refused to leave. But the soothing effects of the fire were keeping her calm, so she took the opportunity to try and organize her feelings.

He was a handsome man; there was no doubt about that. He was tall with a medium, leanly muscled build. His golden hair was just as bright as Serena's or Mina's with definite curl to it, but not in a feminine way. And his blueberry eyes always seemed to be twinkling with a hidden joke, unless he was mad or fighting. When things turned serious he could be just as fierce as any of the other generals. He was a highly skilled fighter, and his gifts of telekinesis and the ability to create and manipulate fire had earned him a widely known reputation back during the Silver Millennium. There had even been stories of how enemies had fled the moment he stepped onto the battlefield, because they knew that the heat was about to be turned on.

But despite his reputation and his position as a general in charge of the royal army of Earth, he had carried himself with a carelessly casual grace. He was cocky and obnoxious, but there was just something endearing about him; like he was an overgrown boy trapped in a man's body. He flirted outrageously with females of practically any age and had the most annoying habit of trying to turn everything into a joke, even if it wasn't funny.

In spite of his unorthodox behavior, the young Princess Rei of Mars had been unexplainably attracted to him. It was probably Aphrodite's idea of a huge practical joke to make them soul mates. Sure they had a lot in common; they both had spiritual powers and they could control fire, but apart from the fact that they were both stubborn and had horrible tempers their personalities were light years apart.

Raye contemplated the similarities between then and now. The Sailor Mars of the past had also fought against the pull she'd felt toward Jadeite and had pushed him away and kept him at a distance. But in the end she had fallen madly in love with the general…and had landed herself in a sea of heartbreak.

'_I just can't do it again,' _she thought. She had carefully guarded her heart over the years, only allowing a select few to worm their way into it. And there was no way that she would ever hand it over to someone else. Serena, Mina, Amy, maybe even Lita might be willing to take the risk of having their hearts broken, but she couldn't. She wasn't that strong. She was weak.

"You're not weak," a quiet voice said.

Raye's eyes snapped open. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't sensed another presence come into the room; nor had she felt the aura that had been lightly brushing hers. But she felt it now.

"What do you want, Jadeite? I thought you had left," she ground out.

She heard him take a few steps closer. "I'm about to. I just took a few minutes to walk around before I leave and I wanted to say goodbye to you before I go."

He was close behind her, but she refused to turn around. "Are you sneaking up behind me to find the best place to stick a sword in me this time?" Her words were laced with venom, and she knew that it was petty to say them, but her natural defense mechanism had the words spilling out.

A sharp breath hissed past Jadeite's teeth. "Okay, I probably deserve that. But Raye, I'm trying to show you that I'm not that person. I know that deep down you know that I would have never harmed a single hair on your head if I had been in my right mind."

A harsh laugh ripped from her throat. "And when were you ever in your right mind? You were an arrogant, cocky little prick that walked around like the sun shown for you alone. There's a name for mental disorders like that, it's called narcissism."

"I don't know if I like the words little and prick being used together in the same sentence when someone's talking about me," he quipped, and then chuckled at his own lame joke.

Raye was glad that she was still turned away from him, because she couldn't stop the smile that sprang to her lips without warning. A laugh bubbled up inside her, but she covered it with a growl. "You are so not funny!"

He sighed. "So everyone keeps telling me. But I'm not giving up. I'm hoping that someday I'll come up with something that will make even you laugh."

She ducked her head to make sure he couldn't see that smile on her face and snorted. "Yeah, right! Don't hold your breath, general! Your humor is still just as dry as it ever was."

Suddenly his voice was right by her ear. "And your wit is still just as sharp, but that doesn't deter me one bit. You used to laugh for me at one time; I think I can make you do it again. I already seem to be making some progress with you."

She fought back a shiver as his breath brushed her skin. "What do you mean you're making progress?"

He let out a low chuckle, one that made her bones felt like they were melting. For one wild split second she entertained the idea of whirling around, throwing herself into his arms, and kissing the living daylights out of him. God! How could someone that could be so annoying sound so sexy? Luckily the thought was short lived and she managed to keep control before she did something impulsive.

His lips were almost touching her skin as he whispered. "You're trusting me at your back, aren't you? I'd call that progress."

She sucked in a deep breath as she realized that he was right. She had been focused so much on keeping herself emotionally defended from him that she had left herself wide open physically.

She spun around quickly. "Why you little…" she began, but she broke off as she found herself almost nose to nose with him. His sparkling blue eyes bored intensely into hers and wiped all coherent thought from her brain.

Jadeite's heart jumped right up into his throat at the vision before him. Her violet eyes had been shooting flames only seconds before, but now they smoldered darkly as she stared at him. Before he knew what he was doing, he had wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.

Her eyes darkened even more with some emotion that he couldn't identify. "Jed, please don't," she whimpered softly.

He smirked cockily. "Don't what?"

She tried to twist away from him. "Let me go!"

His arms tightened around her. "What if I don't want to let you go?"

"Stop being an idiot and let go of me before I light you up like a bonfire!" she snapped, pushing at his chest.

He shook his head. "I lost you once, due to my inability to fight off Beryl. I'll be damned if I'm going to pass up on the chance to get you back. I don't care how much you try to push me away, I'm staying right here."

"But I don't want you here," she tried to insist, cringing at how breathless her voice sounded.

"Tough break, sweetheart," he drawled as he began lowering his head toward hers.

Raye froze in panic. She knew that if he kissed her it would all be over with. The Raye side of her may hate and resent him for breaking her heart a thousand years ago, but her soul, Princess Rei's soul, craved the return of the bond they had once shared and longed to feel his hot lips on hers once more.

Only two inches separated them when the door slid open. "Hey, Raye! I was wondering…"

Chad froze in the doorway, taking in the scene for a moment before a big grin appeared on his face. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

Jadeite growled, but turned to smile at the other man. "I'm just trying to woo the lady. You know what that's like, right?"

Chad's grin grew. "Oh yeah! I'll just leave you two alone then." He began to close the door.

Raye snapped out of her daze. "Wait, Chad! What were you wanting to ask me?"

He waved a hand. "It's not important. You lovebirds have fun."

"We are not lovebirds!" Raye screeched, feeling like she was about to spontaneously combust. "I don't even like him!"

Chad smirked. "That's not what it looks like from where I'm standing."

"Ooo!" she fumed, managing to send a fist slamming into Jadeite's stomach. His breath rushed out in a whoosh and he let her go. "Men are such morons! This is exactly why I always say that women would be much happier if they just make their own way in life without depending on the pathetic male species. What woman wants to have to deal with a bumbling jackass screwing up her life?"

She stomped to the door, sweeping past a wide-eyed Chad, who had scrambled quickly out of her way, before disappearing into her room and closing the door firmly behind her.

Chad rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh man! I just know she's going to get me back for this. The last time I pissed her off she almost threw my favorite guitar in the fire. There's no telling what she'll do now."

In spite of the pain in his stomach, Jadeite began laughing. Raye could claim to hate him all she wanted to, but he knew differently. He had seen the look in her eyes and knew that she had wanted him to kiss her just as badly as he wanted to deliver it. It may not have happened yet, but it would. He just had to keep the pressure on her.

* * *

Nephrite caught the fist that was swinging toward his face in a large hand and chuckled. "Is that your way of saying that you're happy to see me, Sparky?"

Lita huffed and jerked her hand out of his. "No, it damn well isn't, you bastard! It's my way of saying that I'm pissed! Don't think I haven't noticed that you've been following me for the last twenty minutes like some kind of a stalker."

The chestnut haired man's face twisted up in a grimace. "I am not stalking you!"

She tossed her curly auburn ponytail behind her shoulder. "Yeah, right! I'm not saying that coincidences don't happen, but you're pushing the limit. I wrote it off when we bumped into each other this morning when I went out for my jog. I even ignored it when I came out of that store earlier and saw you across the street. I mean, we live in the same neighborhood, so it's only natural that we will cross each other's paths occasionally. But this is going too far! Are you staking out my apartment just waiting for me to leave?"

Anger darkened his face, but it was directed at himself and not at her because he had indeed spent all day watching her apartment building and following her wherever she went. But he wasn't about to tell her that. "No! I just didn't feel like being stuck inside all day so I've been out and about exploring the town. It's just a fluke that we've run into each other as much as we have."

"Sure it is!" she snorted. "What do you take me for, Nephrite, an idiot?"

He shook his head. "No, never an idiot. Okay, so I admit that I have been purposefully looking for you, but you don't have to make it sound like I'm some kind of lecher out to get you."

Lita's green eyes narrowed and she folded her arms across her chest. "And why were you looking for me?"

"I just wanted to talk to you!" he blurted out, throwing his hands up in the air. "Geez! Why do you have to be so pushy?"

She ignored his question. "You know, if you wanted to talk to me so badly you could have just walked up to me and said so instead of being a creeper."

Nephrite folded his arms too and returned her glare with one of his own. "And would you have given me the time of day?"

"Hell no!" she growled. "In fact, I don't know why I'm wasting my time talking to you right now."

He smirked. "Maybe it's because deep down you enjoy my company."

"Ha!" she barked. "As if! I think I'd rather sit down and have tea with Beryl before I had to suffer two minutes in your presence!"

His smirk grew. "Then why are you still here?"

Her face went as red as Raye's fuku. She stepped forward and poked him in the chest. "You just better be glad that there are people around right now, or I'd transform and hit you with a bolt so hard that they could hook you up and use you to power the city for a week!"

He felt a painful little zap where her finger touched him. Most normal people would have been knocked to the ground by the jolt. But he wasn't exactly normal. He grabbed her wrist and sent a small pulse of his own electrical energy to her. "Careful, Jupiter. You're not the only one capable of doing shocking things."

She jumped away from him, shaking her arm a little to try to get rid of the tingles of electricity racing up and down it. "Damn you, Nephrite! Don't think I've forgotten about the ass kicking I promised you. I'm just waiting for the perfect place and time."

He inclined his head mockingly at her. "I look forward to it immensely, Lady Jupiter. It has been a long time since we've had a chance to pit our skills against one another."

She smiled grimly, a few faint memories of the spars they'd had in the past flitted through her head. "Yes it has, but now is not the time. When our time comes I would prefer for it to be spontaneous and without an audience. I do have a secret identity to protect after all."

"Of course," he agreed.

She nodded her head hard once before turning and stalking away down the park path. Although he knew it wasn't a smart move, he followed her.

She spun around as she reached the park gate. "Why are you still following me?"

"I'm not following you," he insisted. "I'm bored. So I thought I would go to the arcade and see if anyone worth talking to was there. Isn't that where everyone seems to hang out?"

She growled but didn't say anything as she turned back around and stomped across the street to the arcade. Nephrite slowly counted to twenty before he calmly followed her through the sliding glass doors.

Lita was already seated on one of the stools at the counter and talking to Andrew. "Wow! This place is Deadsville, Drew. What did you do, run all the paying customers away?"

The sandy blonde laughed and looked around the empty arcade. "Nah! It's always like this for about the first week or so after school lets out. Everyone's out enjoying the weather. But once the heat gets to them they'll come pouring back in here for the ice cream, video games, and air conditioning. So what'll it be today?"

"I'll have a banana milkshake," she told him, doing her best to ignore the large man that had just had the nerve to sit beside her. "So where is everyone? I figured that at least one of the girls would be here."

Andrew chuckled as he began scooping up ice cream. "Serena and Darien were in here earlier for lunch. Mina and Amy both dropped by for a minute, but they didn't stay long. I haven't seen Raye, so I guess the shrine must be busy today. It's just been little ole me for the most part. I even sent Lizzy home early because I got tired of listening to her groaning about how bored she was."

Lita arched a brow. "So I guess Serena and Darien are back on speaking terms again."

He shrugged. "It sure looked that way to me, but they were both acting really weird. Serena was acting like more of a space case than usual and was giggling every five seconds and even Darien seemed a little loopy. Now you know that he's not usually one for public displays of affection, but it felt like every time I turned around he had his hands and lips on Serena. I was afraid that they were going to start making out right there in the back booth."

"I guess they had a good time making up after their fight," she giggled as she pulled the shake glass Andrew had just sat down toward her.

He laughed with her. "I guess so. At least I didn't have to turn the hose on them. This is a family establishment, not a roadhouse." Then he turned his attention on his other customer. "Hey, Nephrite. Can I get you anything?"

"I'll just have a coke," Nephrite answered shortly.

"Ooo," Lita drawled under her breath. "Somebody's living dangerously today."

He gritted his teeth and turned to look at her. He had loved the Sailor Jupiter of the past deeply, and he was pretty sure he was well on his way to falling hard for her reincarnation. Hell, who was he trying to kid? He'd been enraptured by her since the first night he had appeared to her on her balcony. He enjoyed arguing with her to a point, but this was getting old.

"Are you intentionally trying to goad me into losing my temper?" he ground out.

She shrugged. "Why not? You do it to me. I'm just giving you a taste of your own medicine."

Andrew set the glass of coke on the counter and quickly hurried away. He could sense the tension rising between the two. And if something was going to snap between them he wanted to be far out of the line of fire. He just wished that they would find someplace else to hash out their problems besides the arcade. All he could do is hope that they didn't make a mess for him to clean up.

Nephrite calmly picked up his drink and took a sip. "I have not been goading you. As a matter of fact, I think I have been the perfect gentleman. I have endured all of your angry and sarcastic words without complaint every time we run into each other."

"That's just it! We shouldn't be running into each other so much!" she snapped. "You've been back here for only two days and I've already seen more of you in those two days than I used to in the past because you keep following me around like some kind of a perverted weirdo! I've already told you, I like my life the way it is. I don't need some jealous, overbearing man coming in and trying to take over. I am a strong, independent woman and I can take care of myself."

Nephrite couldn't stop his eyes from roaming over her. Not only was she the tallest of the scouts, she was also the most well endowed. The cut off shorts and tank top she was wearing made this fact almost painfully obvious. Her long, lightly tanned legs seemed to go on for miles and her other…voluptuous assets…were displayed quite well by the stretchy material of her shirt.

He smirked. "Oh, I don't think anyone would argue with you on that point."

"You asshole! Stop checking me out!" she snarled as she swung a hand to slap him.

He caught her wrist in his hand when it was only inches from his face and sighed. "That's twice today that you have tried to hit me in the face. Don't you think it's getting a little old?"

Her eyes glittered dangerously. "Fine! Then how about I try something new. This always works for Serena."

Before he could blink, Lita had lifted her almost completely full milkshake and emptied it over his head.

Nephrite sat there for a second, blinking in shock as the freezing cold dairy confection dripped down his face and slithered down the back of his neck. The girl sitting next to him looked at him triumphantly.

So she thought she had won, did she? Well he would show her. His hand was a blur as he snatched up his soda and poured it over her curly auburn hair.

Lita gasped in shock and outrage as ice cubes bounced off her head. She tried to pull away, but Nephrite was still holding her wrist tightly. Her bangs hung in front of her eyes in a wet, dripping mess as she turned a death glare on him. But he looked so comical sitting there with banana milkshake running down his face that her glare turned into a grin.

An answering grin unfurled on his face and he chuckled lightly. Lita looked half drowned with her dripping hair and rivulets of cola streaming down her face and neck. He also thought that he had never seen her look more adorable. Not stopping to think about the consequences of his actions, he pressed his lips to the palm of the hand he was still holding.

Lita sucked in a breath as a jolt of electricity skittered up her arm. It felt pure and raw, and for a second she lost herself in the sensation. And then she got mad, madder than she could ever remember being in her entire life. How dare he put his lips on her skin without her permission! Just because they had shared one funny moment together did not give him the right to kiss any part of her body.

She vaguely heard the doors slide open and the sound of voices, but she paid it no attention. She was completely focused on the man that was now lifting his slate blue eyes to hers.

"Lita," he whispered in a soft husky voice.

The way he said her name tugged at her heart, and that just pissed her off even more. She had just declared herself to be a strong woman, but now she found herself precariously close to throwing herself at Nephrite and begging him to hold her. She hadn't felt this vulnerable since her parents had died, and she didn't like it.

"You bastard!" she hissed as a green haze colored her vision.

And then she lunged for him.

* * *

"Bye, mom!" Serena called as she skipped down the stairs with her bag over her shoulder. She tripped on the bottom step, but managed to catch herself before she went sprawling out in a heap on the floor.

Ilene's head popped out of the kitchen door. "Bye, honey. Have a good time."

"I will," Serena almost sang as she ran to give her mother a hug.

Ken Tsukino's head appeared over the edge of the paper he was reading. "And where exactly are you going, young lady?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. We girls hardly ever make plans that far in advance. We may end up at Mina's for some night swimming or at Lita's so we can eat up her yummy cooking. Then again we may end up at Raye's or Amy's for a movie night. I never know."

Ken grunted. "So you're not seeing _him _tonight?"

"Dad," Serena sighed as she flitted to her father's side. "_He _does have a name, you know. I can't believe you're still acting like this. Darien and I have been seeing each other for over two years now."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," Ken grumbled, his eyes straying to the pink, heart shaped ring on his daughter's left hand. He'd about had a heart attack the first time he saw it. Serena claimed that it was just a promise from Darien that he was coming back to her, but he knew better. When a man put a ring on a woman's finger he was making a statement. And he didn't like the idea of any man, not even one as successful as Darien Shields, putting a claim on his baby girl.

Serena threw her arms around him and gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek. "Daddy, you are so silly sometimes!"

A hundred memories of her doing the same thing when she was just a little girl flooded his mind and made him a little misty eyed. He retreated back behind his paper and said, "Go on! Get out of here!"

Serena giggled and called one last goodbye to both of her parents before making her escape. She did feel a small twinge of guilt for not being completely truthful with her parents, but what was she supposed to say? _'Mom, Dad, I'm staying at Darien's tonight.' _Yeah, that would go over well. Her dad would lock her in the basement until she was a hundred.

She forced herself to walk calmly down the sidewalk, just in case either of her parents was watching out the window, but as she neared the corner her steps picked up. She was half running by the time she rounded the corner…and then she was in her prince's arms.

"Mmm…I missed you," Darien said before ducking his head down to give her a short, but enthusiastic kiss.

Serena giggled. "I wasn't gone that long. I told you all I was doing was checking in and grabbing some fresh clothes. I doubt it took me more than fifteen minutes."

He grinned as he stepped back from her. "But every minute away from you feels like a year." Then he took her bag and put an arm around her shoulders as they began to walk. "So where to, the arcade?"

She nodded. "That works for me. I haven't heard from Raye or Lita today, so I'm hoping that maybe they'll be there. Normally I wouldn't be concerned, but with the guys back in the picture I want to make sure they haven't killed each other yet."

"Well here's your chance," Darien muttered as they reached the next street and were waiting to cross. He nodded his head toward their left.

Serena craned her head to look around him and saw Raye striding briskly down the sidewalk toward them. About ten yards behind her a smug looking Jadeite followed.

"Um…hey, Raye," Serena said uncertainly as the raven-haired girl joined them.

Raye ignored her as she walked up and poked Darien in the chest. "Darien, would you please tell your _friend _to stay the hell away from me? He's driving me crazy!"

Darien shot a quick glance at the smirking Jadeite before returning his attention to the fuming girl in front of him. "Sorry, Raye, but Jed's free to go wherever he wants. I don't have any control over where he goes or what he does."

"But you could," Raye said slyly. "You could order him to stay away from me, and he would have to follow it. Are you the freaking prince of Earth or not?"

"For the love of god, Raye! Keep your voice down," Darien ground out. "Look, I get that you're pissed, but let's not go around blowing our covers. And yes, because of who I _used to be_ I could issue orders, but I'm not going to. This is the 21st century, not the Silver Millennium, and I'm not going to boss anyone around."

Raye folded her arms and scowled darkly.

"He's right," Serena spoke up gently. "I'm in the same position because of who I was in the past. But in the almost two and a half years since we found out the truth, have I ever ordered you to do anything just because I am your princess."

Raye's scowl turned into a pout. "No. But do I go around annoying people?"

Serena couldn't help but giggle. "Only every day of your life, Pyro."

Raye stuck her tongue out at the blonde, who returned it quickly. It looked like a full-blown tongue war was about to break out, and Darien was desperately looking for a way to diffuse the situation before they got too deeply into it.

Luckily, a voice interrupted them. "Ooo…did we miss all the fun?"

Serena abandoned her standoff with Raye to smile at the newcomers. "Hey, Mina…Kunzite. Nah! You didn't miss anything. Raye was just being her normal, cheerful self."

"Yuck it up, Meatball Head!" Raye growled menacingly. Then she tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder. "Forget it! I need a milkshake."

She spun and stomped out into the street without even looking to see if it was safe. Luckily the light had changed a few seconds before and had stopped the oncoming traffic and the crossing sign was lit up brightly.

Suddenly Jadeite's face looked more furious than amused. "That little idiot! Her temper is going to end up getting her killed." He dashed after her.

After a moment of looking around at each other in silence, the other four shrugged and followed. They almost caught up with them a block away just as they were approaching the arcade. Raye was studiously ignoring Jadeite while he walked slightly behind her, fussing at her for not looking both ways before she crossed the street as he waved his hands around to emphasize his point.

"Wow! He sure is worked up," Mina said to Serena. "I never knew Jadeite could nag so much. Is he her potential boyfriend or her father?"

Darien chuckled. "Either position could be hazardous to his health. I wouldn't say Raye's a man-hater, but she's not exactly fond of anything of the male gender, except for her grandfather and those crows of hers. Then again, are we really sure Phobos and Deimos are even boys?"

An evil smirk curved Kunzite's lips. "Now I'm having weird mental images. I can just see Mars marching up to a couple of crows and demanding that they part their feathers so she can take a peek."

Mina elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "You are so bad!"

"You guys stop," Serena pleaded. "I feel so sorry for both of them. Jed is trying so hard to win her over, and Raye's just being…well…Raye. It makes my heart ache."

Darien reached over to smooth the worry lines creasing her forehead with a finger. "Hey, don't stress yourself out about it. They'll either figure it out or end up barbequing each other. There's nothing you can do about that."

"I know," she sighed. "I've just got this feeling that something is wrong." Her hand unconsciously touched the bump in her short's pocket where her brooch was.

Darien's head immediately whipped around as if looking for a threat. "You mean like an enemy?"

A soft growl came from Mina as she reached toward the pocket where her henshin wand was.

"No, no! Nothing like that," Serena quickly reassured them. "I've just got this funny feeling. I can't explain it."

They joined Raye and Jadeite, who had paused just outside the arcade doors. Raye had finally broken her silence and was screeching at the blonde man, "You just don't take a hint, do you? What part of go away is so complicated for you to wrap your brain around?"

Jadeite, to his credit, didn't back down. He just stood there with a big grin on his face. "Hey! Like Darien said, I'm free to go wherever I want. And right now I'm happy going wherever you want to go."

Raye turned to walk through the doors, muttering curses under her breath that were harsh, even for her, and involved some rather…sensitive…parts of Jadeite's anatomy. The words made Serena and Mina blush as their mouths fell open in shock at their friend's language while Jadeite, Darien, and Kunzite all snorted back laughter.

"I'm going to flay every bit of skin from that son of a bitch and then roast him on a spit," Raye was still grumbling as she stepped inside the arcade. Then she looked up and froze. "What the hell?"

Serena stood on her tiptoes to look over Raye's shoulder so she could see what had grabbed her attention. Then she gasped at the sight.

Lita and Nephrite were sitting side by side at the counter, slightly turned toward each other. They were both wet and dripping and looked like they had just crawled out of a food fight. Nephrite had Lita's hand clasped in his and held close to his cheek. He was looking at her with a hopeful expression while Lita stared at him with an indefinable look on her face.

"Oh! Isn't that sweet?" Mina cooed softly.

Raye snorted. "Great! Another sell-out!"

Serena's heart banged almost painfully against her ribcage as that uneasy feeling that she'd had a few minutes before returned in full force. Now she knew what it was. All of the scouts had pledged their loyalty to her on the Silver Crystal, and since then a bond had been formed between her and her scouts. It was nothing like what she had with Darien, but she was able to get glimpses of their moods from time to time, especially when they were in close proximity and they were feeling an extremely strong emotion. She'd learned to block it out for the most part to respect their privacy, but sometimes one would slip through.

This one hit her like a speeding train. She felt anger, pain, self-loathing, and self-disgust wash over her in nauseating waves. And then she even felt the tingle of electrical sparks dance over her skin. When she noticed a faint green glow begin to shine around Lita, she knew what was about to happen. Jupiter was about to blow, big time.

"No, Lita!" she cried, pushing past Raye and Jadeite and running across the room so fast that she was a blur. She threw herself between the enraged Lita and Nephrite just as Lita lunged for his throat, electricity crackling at her fingertips.

Lita pulled up short when a spark of silver penetrated the green haze that surrounded her. She blinked hard and realized that her fingers were only an inch away from tearing into Serena.

"Serena!" she gasped as she let her hands drop to her sides. The haze retreated completely, although anger still bubbled inside her, but she was able to grind out, "What are you doing?"

Serena returned her look steadily. "I think that's what I should be asking you. You let your emotions override your power and were about to attack Nephrite. Why?"

Lita suddenly felt embarrassed and looked down at the floor as she mumbled. "He pissed me off."

Behind Serena, Nephrite muttered, "I didn't do anything."

This brought Lita's head snapping back up, fresh anger blazing in her green eyes. "You did too, you bastard, and you know it." She attempted to push Serena out of the way.

With surprising strength, Serena managed to shove the much taller and somewhat heavier girl back a few steps. "Back off, Lita!"

"Why are you protecting him?" Lita snarled. "He deserves everything that he's got coming to him. I just can't believe I waited this long to open a good old fashioned can of whoop ass on him."

Raye's eyes were gleaming and she was almost foaming at the mouth as she took in the scene in front of her. "Wow! If I'd known there was going to be a show this good I would have brought popcorn with me. Move out of the way Serena and let her wipe the floor with the son of a bitch! This is better than pay per view!"

"Shut up, Raye!" Mina suddenly snapped. Her voice had turned serious and an undercurrent of authority rang through it. "Stay out of this and let Serena handle it!"

Serena shot her fellow blonde a quick, grateful look before looking back to her auburn haired friend. "Lita," she began carefully. "I'm not doing this to protect Nephrite. I'm doing it to protect you. I know you like a good fight, but I also know that there isn't a mean or malicious bone in your body. If you were to beat him up tonight, you would feel horrible about it come morning."

Lita let out a contemptuous snort. "Not effing likely! He's just like a pesky mosquito that you keep trying to shoo away because it keeps buzzing around and annoying you. But once it lands on your skin and bites you…_SWAT!_ Game over. So all I'm doing is ridding myself of a pest."

Serena read the tumultuous emotions in her friend's eyes and took a few steps closer to her so that she could go up on tiptoe and whisper in her ear, "Is it really Nephrite that you're so angry at, or is it yourself?"

* * *

Amy bit back a giggle as she saw yet another girl from her school turn around and look at her in shock. This brought the total number of gaping spectators so far up to four, and they had only gone six blocks so far. It seemed that the student population of Juuban High had a hard time believing their eyes when they saw their resident genius walking down the street on the arm of a tall, handsome, and older man.

Zoicite leaned down to ask softly, "What's so funny? Did I miss a spot when I shaved or something?"

Amy smiled and shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something."

Zoicite just grinned and then winked at her as he said, "I saw them staring too. Are they classmates of yours?"

She knew that she should feel disgruntled that he could read her so easily, but instead she felt giddy. "Yes, they are. They are all falling over in shock because I am the least likely candidate in the entire school to have a date."

A blonde brow arched at her. "And why would that be? You are a beautiful and intelligent young woman. I would imagine that men would be beating your door down for the honor to go out with you."

She grimaced. "Quite the opposite actually. I am the shy, quiet bookworm that most people never even pay attention to unless they are grumbling about my latest test grade."

He shook his head. "The men in this century must be idiots. I seem to remember that you were highly sought after in the Silver Millennium."

She ducked her head as she blushed. Princess Ami had definitely had her share of admirers, but her shyness had never allowed her to accept any of their offers of courtship. At least not until a certain blonde haired earth general had come along and quietly stolen her heart.

"Men are more interested in a woman's physical attractiveness than in her mental capacity nowadays," Amy mumbled. "Not that I think I'm ugly or anything, I am pleased with my appearance. But men seem to prefer the blonde bombshells like Serena and Mina or the dark, exotic ones like Raye. There are even some that like the strong, athletic types like Lita. Silent people like me tend to get shuffled into the background."

"Imbeciles," Zoicite muttered. "It's no wonder that chivalry and morality have declined as badly as it has over the centuries if people form their opinions about other people strictly based on what they see on the surface. Haven't they ever heard the expression _'You can't judge a book by its cover'_?"

A light laugh bubbled past her lips. "I'm sure they've heard of it, they just don't practice it. And that's been perfectly fine with me. I've been grateful, actually. I've been so busy the last few years between school and my scout duties that it would have been impossible for me to juggle a relationship as well."

Zoicite gave her a sideways look. "And yet here you are on a date."

Heat flamed in her cheeks. "This is different." Then she saw him smirk a little. "Oh! You're teasing me."

"Maybe just a little," he confessed. "You're beautiful when you blush. It makes you look like you've been standing outside on a winter's day."

She felt her face grow hotter as she mumbled, "Thank you." She looked up and saw that they were nearing the arcade. "Do you mind if we stop at the arcade for just a minute? I left a book I was reading there by accident and I'm sure Andrew stashed it away for me. I just want to pick it up."

He nodded. "Sure, no problem. The night is young."

They passed through the arcade doors and abruptly came to a halt as they took in the unusual scene before them.

Darien, Kunzite, and Jadeite were just inside the doors, each wearing a different expression on their face. Darien looked concerned while Kunzite appeared bored. Jadeite looked slightly amused. Mina and Raye weren't too far away, and they were glaring at each other. And then by the counter stood Serena, in between Lita and Nephrite, both of whom appeared to wearing their drinks.

"Uh oh! I think we just walked in on the middle of something," Zoicite whispered to Amy.

She nodded, but didn't say a word.

Somebody else had plenty to say though.

"That's it!" Andrew yelled as he jumped up to stand on the counter. He held a mop in his hand and he looked furious. "If all you people are going to do is fight then take it somewhere else! I am not going to stand here and watch the entire arcade get trashed just because some of you can't control your tempers! This is not a wrestling ring! Now either this crap stops right now or I'm going to start banning people from coming in here! I barely survived the Serena/Darien war, and I'll be damned if I have to go through this shit again! Comprende?"

The arcade fell completely silent after his outburst except for the sounds of the video game machines in the background. The scouts and Darien in particular knew that Andrew was one of the most mellow, laid back people in the world and that it took a lot to make him lose his temper. He must be really pissed if he just had the guts to yell at a whole group of people that had super powers.

He jumped to the ground and began shooing Serena, Lita, and Nephrite away from the puddle of milkshake and cola on the floor so that he could mop it up.

"Here, Drew, let me do that," Lita spoke up in a quiet voice.

"I've got it!" he snapped back, clearly still in a high temper. "Now those of you that are here for a legitimate reason and can behave themselves can sit down and I'll be happy to serve you whatever you want. Anyone feeling the need to bash someone else's face in can feel free to use the back alley. The door's that way." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder before taking his mop and stomping toward the back room.

After about five seconds of silence Raye muttered, "Wow! And people say things get hot when I lose my temper. I think the temperature in here just jumped ten degrees."

A few hesitant chuckles floated around at her words.

Serena looked back and forth between Lita and Nephrite. "Okay, I think we need to put some distance between you two for now."

Nephrite bowed his head dejectedly. "I'll leave."

Lita's voice stopped him as he walked away. "Nephrite, wait."

He turned to look back at her. "What is it, Lita?"

She suddenly looked unsure of herself. "I…I'm sorry, okay! I shouldn't have jumped at you like that."

That surprised him. An apology coming from the great Sailor Jupiter? Had the world stopped spinning?

He shook his head and grinned at her. "That wasn't the first time you lost your temper with me, and knowing my luck it won't be the last. I'll see you later."

Jadeite looked toward Raye and sighed in defeat as he realized that he had probably made all of the progress he was going to make today. He joined Nephrite as he walked out. "Come on, man! Why don't you go get changed and we'll go out and have a drink. I think we both need it."

"Hallelujah!" Raye growled. "I didn't think he'd ever leave. He's been hanging on like a leech practically all day. Now maybe I can get some peace and quiet."

Lita pushed her wet hair away from her face. "I'm gonna split too. I need a shower."

Serena grabbed her arm. "Wait a minute. What actually happened here?"

Lita shrugged. "He just did something that rubbed me the wrong way, that's all. I guess I've just got some issues where he's concerned. You were right before. I'm more angry at myself than I am at him, but I'll figure it out."

"If you need someone to talk to…" Serena began.

"You'll be the first one I call," Lita reassured her. Then she turned to Raye. "You don't have any plans, do you? Why don't you come over to my place and we'll pig out on junk food and watch some lame movies."

Raye nodded. "That sounds like a plan to me. I don't have a thing going on." She followed Lita out the door.

"Um…" Mina began hesitantly. "We were just stopping by for a snack on the way to the movies, but I think we'll pass and just hit up the concession stand at the theater. With the mood that Andrew's in he might decide to poison our drinks."

"I heard that!" Andrew said as he pushed his way through the swinging doors. His face was still flushed, but he looked calmer than he had before. "You should know by now that I would never poison anyone. It would be bad for business. But there are other ways for getting revenge." His hazel eyes gleamed wickedly for a moment.

Mina let out a squeak. "You're scary when you're mad, Drew! I am so out of here!" She grabbed Kunzite's arm and practically dragged him from the arcade, almost running over Amy and Zoicite in the process.

Amy's blue eyes were just as wide as Mina's had been. "I was just going to pick up my book, but I can get it some other time."

Andrew sighed heavily and his shoulders slumped as the tension drained out of him. He reached under the counter and pulled out a small paperback book. "Here, Amy. I promise I won't bite your head off."

She crossed the room swiftly and picked up the book from the counter to slide it into her purse. "Well, Zoicite and I have dinner plans. I'll see you guys later."

Serena smiled brightly at her. "Okay! By the way, I really like that dress on you."

Amy returned the smile as she smoothed down the skirt of the butter yellow, halter-top dress she was wearing. "Thanks. We're off now. Call me if you need any help wrangling Lita or Raye."

"Will do," Serena laughed, giving her a mock salute.

Andrew groaned and slumped forward to rest his head on the counter as the doors closed behind the couple. "Well I guess I cleared the place, huh?" Then he raised his head just enough to look at Serena and Darien. "I'm surprised you two are still here."

Darien snorted. "It takes more than a Furuhata temper tantrum to run us off. Besides, you can't get mad at us. I didn't do anything this time and Serena broke up the fight before anything too serious happened."

Andrew grinned. "True. But you guys missed the opening act. I suffered from some major flashbacks when Lita dumped her milkshake over Nephrite's head and then he doused her in soda. It was just like watching you two all over again. I guess I panicked at the thought of having to go through housebreaking another couple and I lost it."

Serena giggled. "You definitely got loud, that's for sure. I don't think I've ever heard you yell like that before. You even broke a sweat."

She reached out to push his damp hair off his forehead and her eyes widened. "Geez, you feel like you have a fever. Raye was right, you do get hot when you get mad."

Andrew sent her a mock pout. "And here I thought the ladies found me hot all the time." Crickets chirped for a moment. "Anyway, it's no big deal. I always break out in a sweat when I lose my temper and my body temp goes up. It'll pass in a minute."

Darien slipped into his doctor in training mode. "You're lucky you didn't give yourself a stroke. I bet your blood pressure shot through the roof."

The blonde man pushed away from the counter with a laugh. "Lita and Nephrite just better count themselves lucky that I don't have superhuman powers like they do, because I would have bashed their heads together for being idiots. Now what can I get for you guys?"

* * *

**A/N **Were the tempers flying or what? I think I've got all the fires put out, at least for now. I loved letting Andrew have a shot at telling everyone off. I mean seriously, why should he always be the one that has to clean up after everybody? I also enjoyed putting in a little bit of foreshadowing of what Andrew will come to be in _Lunar Princess_. That's my hot sun guy! Sorry, I'm sure that some of you are well aware by now that Andrew holds a special place in my heart. Okay, so now I've got to give Nephrite and Jadeite their chances to finally land their girls. I know I've been abusing them horribly, but their time is coming, I swear. Now I'm off to give my other stories a little TLC. Don't forget to hit that button and leave me a review. (Puppy dog eyes) Pretty please! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	11. You Can't Fight the Storm

**A/N **Yay! Update time! I hope you guys like this chapter. It's just my usual mix of everything. There's some drama mixed up with a little touch of humor and a dash of angst. There are also a couple of "Aww" moments thrown in just to round things out. So I hope it goes over well. Now let me get those hugs out. BIG HUGS TO:

**JuliaGulia17**

**GoldenDragon326**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**jade2nightwing**

**Chibi Kitt**

**saveme57**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**Katie **

**AyameRose**

**gots2luv**

**SammieAtHome**

**Seredhiel05**

**BostonBill**

**serenityangelrose**

**YingYing**

**Unlockurdestiny**

**Fedski**

**Shinobi of life**

**KageNoNeko**

**Bookworm0913**

**sabina21**

**LadyRosalie29**

**sailorashes**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**RosaBaby**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**yumi2482**

**blk0912**

**rainbabie**

**Hikari Urania**

I hope I didn't forget anybody. I always try not to. Thank you so much for your reviews, they mean the world to me. Now I'm going to let you get on with this while I go work on the next chapter for _Rekindled. _It's almost done, and since I'm off work today because they closed schools due to the weather, I have some free time. With a lot of luck, I just might have it finished in time to post it today. Wouldn't that be amazing, two updates in one day? Well, we'll see. I'm not going to start holding my breath quite yet. Anyway, Happy Reading!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 11

You Can't Fight the Storm

* * *

Thunder rumbled so loudly across the darkened sky that it shook the windows of the Tsukino's house. The stack of plates that Serena held in her hands rattled as well and would have gone crashing to the floor if it hadn't been for Ilene's hands covering hers and steadying them at the last second.

"Whoa, honey!" Ilene said softly. "I know that you've never liked storms, but you need to try and calm yourself down a little. There's no sense getting all worked up over it. It's outside and you're safe and sound in here. It can't get to you."

"Is the ditz queen freaking out over a little thunder and lightning again? What a weenie!" Sammy drawled as he walked into the kitchen.

"Sh…shut up, y…you little ma…maggot!" Serena stuttered out between chattering teeth as she tried to glare at her brother. "How would you like all of your little friends at school to know that you sleep with your TV on because you're afraid of the dark?"

"Mooomm!" Sammy complained. "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

Ilene sniffed disdainfully. "If you think you deserve any help after you're the one that started it, think again, Samuel Tsukino! Now come get the silverware and napkins and help your sister set the table. Your father will be coming through that door any moment and want his dinner. And I don't want to hear any more smart mouthed comments out of you either."

Sammy grumbled under his breath, but he went to do as his mother asked. Fifteen minutes later, ten minutes past his usual arrival time, the front door blew open with a bang as the rain and wind ushered in Ken Tsukino.

"Great Thundering Zeus!" he exclaimed as he shrugged out of his wet suit jacket. "I can't believe that it's storming again. It's done this every night this week."

Ilene hurried forward to take the wet jacket and to give her husband a towel to dry off as best as he could. "I know. It's so strange. The sun was shining just an hour ago as it was setting and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Then all of a sudden this blew up out of nowhere."

Ken rubbed the towel over his dripping brown hair. "Nobody can come up with an explanation for it. I sent one of my top science reporters over to talk to the experts in the meteorology department at the university, but they are as clueless as everyone else. They're running tests and searching for atmospheric disturbances, but so far they've come up with nothing."

Serena chewed on her bottom lip as she stood in the kitchen doorway and listened. She knew exactly what was causing these freak storms to happen every night, but she couldn't tell her family that. They'd probably have her committed if she did.

Just then the loudest clap of thunder yet boomed and she jumped as a sharp squeal ripped from her throat. She grabbed a hold of the doorframe so tightly that her knuckles turned white and she sank her fingernails into the wood. Her heart leapt up into her throat, pounding there and making it hard to breathe.

'_Are you okay?' _she heard Darien's voice echo in her head.

'_Nooo!' _she wailed mentally back to him. _'Do I feel okay to you?'_

She swore that she heard him chuckle before she felt a wave of comforting reassurance flow through her. It helped her feel some better. _'Just take some deep breaths and try to calm down. This never goes on for longer than a couple of hours.'_

Hmph! That was easy for him to say. He wasn't the one that was scared out of his mind. The rational part of her brain told her that she didn't have anything to be afraid of, but it wasn't strong enough to overpower the part of her mind that screamed hysterically at every clap of thunder and flash of lightning. She didn't know why she was so afraid of storms, but she always had been, as far back as she could remember. She recalled many nights when she was a little girl when she would go and crawl into bed with her parents whenever a storm came.

How laughable was that? She was Sailor Moon! She had fought against evil queens, monsters, demons, and all sorts of other horrific beings. She had even gone up against Chaos and had saved the planet for what felt like the umpteenth time. But something as simple as a thunderstorm had the ability to turn her into an emotional wreck. Some hero she was!

Ken finished drying his glasses and set them back on the bridge of his nose. He looked around for a moment before his gaze landed on his clearly distraught daughter. He hurried over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"My poor little bunny," he cooed. "Don't you worry about the big bad storm. Your daddy's here now and I won't let it get to you."

Serena couldn't help but laugh. "Dad! I'm almost seventeen, not seven! Yeah, the storm freaks me out a little, but you don't have to treat me like a baby!"

He stepped back and patted the top of her head with a smile. "I don't care what age you are. You will always be my baby."

"Okay! Now that everybody is home safe and sound and dry, let's eat before our dinner gets cold," Ilene announced.

The family gathered around the table to eat. The kept up a steady stream of conversation to try and drown out the sounds of the storm, but the noise could still be heard over their voices. If anything, it sounded like it was getting worse.

Once they were finished, Ken wandered into the living room for his evening ritual of reading the newspaper while watching TV. Sammy's job was to clear the table, so he did that as quickly as he could before disappearing up to his room for his date with his Xbox. Ilene washed the dishes while Serena dried them.

When she was done with that she told her mother, "I think I'm going to go up and listen to some music. Maybe with my earbuds in I won't hear anything."

Ilene smiled. "You didn't have any plans tonight, did you?"

Serena shook her head. "No. Not really. Darien and Andrew wanted to go see some action movie, so I told them to go ahead. Action movies aren't really my thing. Mina and Amy were both supposed to have dates and Lita had, um…something to do. I was thinking about running up to the shrine and visiting Raye, but not in this weather. So I guess I'm just going to chill here for now."

"Okay dear," Ilene replied. "I made a lemon pie today. So if you want any it's in the refrigerator."

"Thanks, mom. Maybe later," Serena called over her shoulder as she made her getaway. She hurried up the stairs to the privacy of her bedroom. Once she had locked the door behind her she flew across the room to grab her cell phone from the bedside table. She growled as she looked at the display. Thanks to the storm she barely had a signal. Great! That meant that any calls she tried to make would probably get dropped.

But there was another solution. She opened the drawer of her nightstand and pulled out both her scout communicator. The communicators were supposed to be used for scout business only, but under the circumstances she figured that this qualified.

She debated for a moment before she pressed the orange Venus symbol. After several seconds passed she breathed a sigh of relief when Mina's face appeared on the tiny screen.

"Hey!" her bubbly blonde friend chirped. "I tried to call you a couple of times, but my phone has like zero signal right now."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Gee! I wonder why. What are those two idiots trying to do, blow away the entire city?"

Mina shrugged. "Beats me! All I know is that they had a pretty big blow up earlier and Lita got way beyond pissed. Hang on a sec! Amy's beeping in."

A few seconds later Serena's screen split in two and Amy's pixie face appeared as well.

"What in the world is going on out there?" she demanded softly. "Is Lita trying to cause a hurricane this time?"

Serena sighed. "That's what I'm trying to figure out." Then the red Mars symbol on her communicator began blinking. "Hang on! Raye's calling in too."

She pressed the button and the screen split again, revealing a gleefully grinning Raye.

"Welcome to the party line, girlfriend!" Mina greeted.

"Isn't this great?" Raye practically squealed. "Lita's really letting Nephrite have it tonight! He must have screwed up royally this time. I hope she fries his ass!"

"Raye!" Amy admonished gently. "That really isn't very nice!"

"Who gives a damn?" Raye snorted. "The bastard probably deserves it! Does anyone have the low down on what happened?"

"I'm not really sure," Mina answered. "Lita was at my place earlier and we were swimming. Kunzite came by to drop off some CDs that I had let him borrow that had some songs on them that he wanted on his new MP3 player and Nephrite was with him. I thought everything was fine, but the next thing I knew Lita and Nephrite were right up in each other's faces and yelling at each other. Kunzite grabbed Nephrite and got him out of there and Lita was all worked up. I asked her what happened, but she just said that she didn't want to talk about it and left."

"Knowing that idiot, he probably said something stupid," Raye cackled.

"I don't think so," Serena mused as she thought back to the scene that she had broken up between Lita and Nephrite in the arcade the previous weekend. "I think this is more centered around Lita and her feelings than around what Nephrite has done."

Amy nodded. "You could be right, Serena. Except for us, Lita keeps herself emotionally closed off from everyone else. It's a defense mechanism probably brought about by her parents' death. She doesn't allow herself to get involved with people on a personal level. Nephrite makes her feel, and she sees that as a threat. Her feelings make her feel vulnerable and she doesn't like that. So in retaliation she lashes out in anger. I don't think that it is really hatred toward Nephrite that makes her act this way, I believe it's more anger directed at herself because she feels weak. Deep down inside she still feels something for him, but she's scared of being hurt again so she fights against it."

"Thank you for that analysis, Dr. Mercury," Raye drawled. "I've gotta go. I think I hear my grandpa calling me." She cut the link and her face disappeared.

Mina giggled. "I think you struck a nerve with her too, Amy."

The blue haired girl shrugged. "It could apply in her case as well. Raye and Lita are eerily similar in some ways. Raye is just as emotionally blocked off as Lita is. They are both too scared to drop those walls that they have built around themselves and let the guys in. And until they do I'm afraid that the animosity between them will continue."

Serena cringed as another clap of thunder rattled the house. "I feel like I need to do something. I know I said that I was cool with Lita and Nephrite working out their own problems, but this is getting to be a little much. They could end up hurting each other."

Mina shook her head. "Kunzite and Jadeite went to go keep an eye on them when we felt how intense it was getting. If things get too out of control they'll break it up."

"Zoicite went with them too, so everything should be fine," Amy reassured her.

"Okay," Serena sighed. "You girls stay dry, and let me know if you hear anything."

"Will do!" Mina chirped. And she and Amy signed off.

Serena tossed the communicator on the bed and flopped down beside it. She grabbed her MP3 player that was lying on her pillow and stuck the earbuds in her ears. She pulled up her playlist and hit play before cranking the volume up as high as it would go.

The music did the trick. She still felt the vibrations occasionally, but she was no longer able to hear the thunder. The light of her lamp also muted the flashes of lightning so that they didn't seem so terrifying.

After a couple of songs she began to feel drowsy. She was on the verge of slipping off to sleep when there was a crack of thunder so loud that she heard it over the music. She even swore that she felt the bed lurch under her. Her eyes flew open just in time for everything to go dark as the power went out.

She managed to bite back the scream that threatened to rip past her vocal chords as she sat up and yanked the earbuds out of her ears. She heard Sammy complaining loudly along with some bumping and banging. No doubt he was trying to get to the flashlight he kept beside his bed.

Then there were footsteps on the stairs. "Serena, Sammy, are you kids okay?" Ilene called out.

"Yeah!" Sammy replied petulantly. "This sucks though. I was in the middle of an online battle."

"You'll live," was Ilene's response as she knocked on Serena's door. "Serena, honey, are you okay?"

Serena forced her voice to sound normal. "I'm fine. I was kinda dozing."

"Okay. Daddy's lighting the candles downstairs if you get scared and want to come sit with us," her mother told her.

Part of her craved to go downstairs and bask in the safety and security of her parents' company, but she wasn't a little kid anymore. She didn't need them to hold her hand to get her through this. She could manage to get through a storm and a power outage on her own.

She did wish Darien were there though. She knew that he were with her that he would hold her close and talk to her until he storm retreated to the far recesses of her mind. She suddenly realized that she was reaching out to him through their bond, and she quickly reeled it back in and slammed the mental door. She wasn't going to be so pathetic to go crying to him either. She had just recently proven to him how grown up she could be. Whining like a baby would just make her seem like a kid again, and she was enjoying the new adult aspect of their relationship too much to damage it now.

Determined to ignore her fears, she put her earbuds back in and rolled over onto her stomach before pulling a pillow over her head. If she couldn't see or hear the storm, she would be able to ignore it.

One of her favorite songs came on and she lost herself in the music. She bent her legs at the knee, twitching her feet to the beat of the song while she hummed the lyrics softly to herself. It was just drawing to a close when she felt a hand on her arm.

She bolted up onto her knees on the mattress, one hand automatically flying to her pocket where her brooch was while other yanked the earbuds out of her ears. A scream was building in her throat when a hand covered her mouth, a wet, gloved hand.

"Serena! It's me!" a deep, husky voice hissed.

She jerked her head back and whispered harshly, "Darien Shields! You scared the life out of me!"

"Sorry!" he whispered back apologetically. "I did try to let you know that I was coming, but I couldn't get through to you."

"Oh," she muttered. "I was zoning out trying to ignore the storm. What are you doing here?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was worried about you. I know how much these storms scare you. So when the power went out at the theater I thought I'd come and check on you. But it looks like you were coping with it just fine on your own."

She shook her head. She may have denied herself the opportunity to call him to her, but now that he had shown up on his own she was going to soak it up. She went to hug him and then pulled back with a squeak. "You're soaking wet!"

He chuckled. "Well it is raining outside in case you haven't noticed." He was transformed into Tuxedo Mask, but his mask and hat were both missing, probably blown away by the wind to who knew where. Water dripped from his cape and his tuxedo was plastered to every hard plane of his body.

"Give me second. I can fix that," he told her. A fissure ran through the air and there was a soft flash of gold as the tuxedo and cape disappeared to be replaced by a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Thankfully they were dry.

Serena giggled softly. "Your hair is still a dripping mess." She used two fingers to flip back the wet strands that were hanging down into his eyes. Then she scrambled off the bed and hurried to the dark bathroom. Going by sense of touch only, she found a towel hanging on the rack and took it to him.

"Thanks," he said as he rubbed the towel over his head.

Serena muffled a laugh behind her hand when he pulled it away. Darien's hair always had a messy appearance to it, no matter how much he combed it, but now it stuck up all over his head like a disheveled nest of black porcupine quills.

He looked at her curiously. "What?"

"Nothing," she said simply and reached up to smooth the ebony silk into some semblance of its usual tousled look.

Darien tossed the towel aside. "Just leave it. There hasn't been a hair product invented yet that could make it behave. Now come here!" He pulled her up close against him.

She shivered at both the feel of his body against hers and the low rumble of thunder from outside. "I could strangle Lita for this!" she whispered.

"Sounds like it's dying off," he said, cocking his head to listen. "They must be done for the night."

She sighed against his chest. "I just wish that they would give it up already. All of these storms are driving me crazy!"

"I don't think it will be much longer," he murmured against the top of her head. "I spoke to Kunzite before I came over and he was watching them from a distance. He said that it didn't look like they were seriously trying to hurt each other or anything. To him it looked more like they are just venting out some frustrations and excess energy against each other. But they can't keep that up forever. They'll either sink or swim at some point."

Serena groaned. "This is just so frustrating! I'm as happy as I can be for Mina and Amy. They seem to be getting along great with Kunzite and Zoicite. But on the other hand we have Lita and Nephrite at each other's throats every time we turn around and Raye hasn't even spoken to Jadeite in days. She ignores him like he doesn't even exist."

"Not exactly," Darien hedged. "Did you hear about that fire in that abandoned lot in Azabu last night."

She nodded. "Yeah, it was mentioned on the radio. They said it looked like some kids may have started it."

He snorted. "Yeah right! It looks like a couple of flamethrowers with hot tempers started it to me."

Her mouth fell open. "You think Raye and Jed did it."

He shrugged. "Probably not intentionally. But you know that he's been following her around constantly all week, and that lot isn't far from Cherry Hill. Not to mention Jadeite was sporting an almost healed burn on his arm when I saw him this morning, which lets me know that with his accelerated healing that he probably received it sometime last night, and I don't think he gave it to himself."

"This is getting out of control," Serena moaned. "I almost feel like I need to do an intervention or something and knock some sense into them."

Darien scooped her up in his arms and settled himself on the bed with her in his lap. "I know you like to think that you can fix everyone's problems, but there are some things that people have to work out for themselves."

"I know," she pouted. "I just hate feeling so helpless."

He smiled down at her before dipping his head and taking her lips in a gentle kiss. He would have liked for it to be more, but he was acutely aware of the fact that they were in her bedroom, not his, and her neurotic father was just downstairs. He'd died before, and he wasn't in a hurry to repeat that experience again, especially at the hands of his girlfriend's father.

She sighed against his lips. "Thank you for coming over. That storm really had my nerves rattled."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Any time. You don't have to be the strong Sailor Moon with me. It's okay to admit your fears."

She scrunched her nose up. "I know. It just seems childish that I let something like thunderstorms upset so much. I don't know why, but I've always been like that, even when I was little."

Her phone beeped then, signaling an incoming message, and she crawled off Darien's lap, amid his complaints, to reach for the phone on the bedside table. "I could be something important," she told him.

She opened her inbox and located the new message. "It's from Jed," she said curiously as she clicked on it.

It was a picture text, and the subject line simply read _'Check this out'_. She scrolled down to see the picture that Jadeite had captured on his camera phone and her mouth fell open.

"Oh my god!"

* * *

Nephrite ducked to avoid the ball of lightning that was headed right for him and felt every hair on his body stand on end in response to the electrical charge. He grinned wryly to himself. She'd almost gotten him that time.

He straightened up and brought his sword around just in time to deflect the flurry of razor sharp, electrified oak leaves that she had launched against him. There was one thing he could say, no matter which incarnation she was in, Jupiter was still a formidable opponent, as she had proven over the last few nights.

Their days had settled into a predictable pattern. He'd follow her around for a while and manage to _"accidentally" _bump into her a few times. She'd eventually get frustrated with him, and then he would suggest that they meet later that evening for a good, old-fashioned spar.

She always accepted. Jupiter was never one to back down from a challenge, and she liked a good fight just as much as he did, so this worked out perfectly. He was just grateful to be able to get some show of emotion out of Lita. After watching Raye completely ignore Jadeite all week, he felt an overwhelming sympathy for his fellow general. Lita's anger and aggression may not be the feelings that he wanted to unlock in the feisty auburn haired girl, but it was better than nothing.

But she seemed to be taking things to a whole new level tonight. The first thing she usually did when they started was to call in the storm clouds to dampen his ability to be able to look to the stars for guidance, but tonight the storm seemed to be raging out of control, whipping them both with wind and rain while the thunder roared and lightning crashed.

Her attacks also seemed to be much more volatile. While their confrontations up until now had been more intense than training matches, they hadn't developed into full-blown battles. It had been more of a power play between them, each one feeling the other one out and countering each other's moves to try and come out on top. But now she seemed determined to go in for the kill.

Had what he said earlier made her that mad? He hadn't meant for it to, he'd only been speaking the truth. When he'd seen her climbing out of Mina's pool earlier in her dark green bikini with water glistening on her lightly tanned skin, he'd been unable to help himself. He'd told her how beautiful he thought she was and begged her to consider going with him to grab a burger somewhere, just as friends.

Her eyes had narrowed into slits as she very angrily and loudly informed him that they were _not _friends and that she _wouldn't _go anywhere with him even if he was the last man on earth. Then she had issued the challenge for him to meet her here the same as usual and for him to be ready for a world of pain, because she wasn't going to hold back anymore.

And she had been right, he thought as he dodged yet another attack she threw at him. Starting to feel severely irritated, he channeled his own electricity down his sword blade and sent a stream of it shooting at her. He did aim it slightly to her left though to keep it from accidentally hitting her. The last thing he wanted to do was injure her.

Sailor Jupiter jumped quickly out of the way, her short fuku skirt swirling around her as she landed in a crouch. The green jewel in her tiara seemed to gleam as brightly as her eyes.

"Why are you holding back?" she spat. "I want a real fight, but all you're doing is acting defensively! What's wrong with you?"

"Lita…" he sighed, purposefully drawing out her civilian name. "I know you're angry, and you're trying to make me angry too, but I would die if I actually hurt you."

"Ha!" she scoffed. "That didn't stop you before, did it? When are you going to wake up and realize that you had your one shot with me and you blew it, big time? Mina and Amy may be crazy enough to risk everything a second time, but I'm not! I've guarded my heart too closely to allow you to just waltz in and trample it again."

Nephrite was holding on to his temper by a thin thread at this point. "Look, why don't we quit this for now. We've been going at it for over two hours, and obviously neither one of us is making any progress. We're tired, we're agitated, and this storm has probably knocked out power to half the city by now. So let's just agree to disagree and leave it at that."

"Oh hell no!" Jupiter shrieked. "You are not getting away from me that easily, you bastard! I'm not giving up until you feel exactly like I do." She flung her hands out and electricity flew from her fingertips.

He tossed his sword aside and met her attack with one of his own. The reversed polarities turned it into a gigantic electromagnet, and he used the energy to jerk her toward him until he held her in the circle of his arms. They both gritted their teeth against the stings and zaps they felt as the energy died.

"And how exactly do you feel, Lita?" he asked in a low voice.

She glared defiantly at him and struggled in his arms for several seconds before she let out a frustrated cry. "I don't know, damn it! I'm so confused! Most of the time I hate that Serena and Darien ever told me about you being locked up in that stone. Sometimes I hate myself for giving in and bringing you back to life. Then I think about all the pain I suffered in the past because of you, and I believe that I'll finally be happy if I can make you feel the same pain that I felt. But then…"

"Then what?" he prompted as her voice trailed off and her head bowed. When she didn't answer he put his fingers under her chin to lift her face up to meet his. When her dark green eyes collided with his, he saw that they were swimming with tears.

"I told myself over and over that I didn't want you here," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I tried to convince myself that the only reason why I agreed to return your soul to your body was because you deserved the chance at life that Beryl stole from you, not because I wanted you back in my life. But now that you're here, I can't picture my life going back to the way it was before. I don't want you here, but at the same time I don't want you to leave either. I know that doesn't make any sense."

He chuckled. "No, it doesn't. But I do understand where you're coming from. I know we have some really bad history between us, but we had lots of good times too. Don't you remember any of those?"

She nodded. She did remember the good times they shared, the way that they would sit together for hours looking at the stars and talking as they took advantage of Serenity and Endymion's secret trysts to have some of their own. He had been her mystical stargazer, and he had entranced her.

"I do have good memories of us," she confessed. "But they seem so hazy and far away when compared to the memories of that last day on the moon. It's like a reoccurring nightmare that won't go away."

He sighed. "I wish you could trust me. If you did then we could make new good memories to take the place of the old bad ones, but you are determined to fight me every step of the way. I have never admitted to defeat in my life, but I am now. You've beaten me down, Jupiter, and I can't keep seeing you in so much pain. It's tearing me apart inside. So if you really want me to go, I will. You won't see me except when it's unavoidable because of our mutual friends. If I see you walking down the street I will turn and go the other way to spare you my presence. But if you ask me to stay, then I'll stay. I'm putting the ball in your court. It's your decision."

She stared at him quietly for a long, slow, agonizing minute. The rain had let up to a light drizzle now, and the water ran in rivulets down her face. Her expression remained completely blank. And as the silence stretched out, he figured he had his answer.

"I'll leave you in peace then," he said gruffly as he let her go. He began walking away and he shimmered for a moment as his light gray general's uniform faded to be replaced by slacks and a button down shirt.

Jupiter felt her heart slamming against her ribcage as panic clawed at her insides. He was walking away from her. That brought a memory that she had long since forced into the back of her mind rushing forward.

It was of the last time that she had seen him before he left with Endymion to fight against Beryl's forces. They had fought about something stupid a short time before and there was still some tension between them as they said their farewells. He had said goodbye in that same gruff tone before turning and walking away. She'd felt bad about it and had started to call him back, but then she figured why make a scene. She'd just make it up to him when he came back.

But he hadn't come back, at least not as himself. And she remembered thinking as she fought against him that day on the moon, if only she had run after him that day to give him a kiss and tell him that she loved him, maybe he would have had the strength to fight against Beryl's brainwashing. Of course now she knew that it wouldn't have made a difference. Beryl's black magic was too strong. But she still wished that she'd done things differently the day he left her.

And now he was leaving her again. And once again she was just standing here, watching him go. There may not be an evil queen lurking out there this time to kidnap and brainwash him, but other things could go wrong. What if he left now and was killed in a freak accident? Things like that happened all the time. She would hate herself twice as much for denying the truth to herself for a second time.

Her transformation vanished in a snap as she began running after him. Raye may barbeque her ass for this later, but she didn't care. She could very well be setting herself up for a huge heartbreak on down the road, but she would deal with that if or when the time came. For once in her life she was going to take a chance and jump in headfirst.

He had reached his truck where he had left it parked, and she kicked her speed into high gear. She had to catch him before he left. "Nephrite!" she screamed.

He turned around just as she barreled into him, knocking him back against the fender of the truck. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in the juncture of his shoulder.

"Don't leave me again!" she choked out on a sob. "Please, please, don't leave me again! I want you to stay."

He pushed her back a step so he could look at her sternly. "Don't say it unless you really mean it. I'm not going to play a yo-yo game with you. If you tell me to stay, then you're stuck with me. Got it?"

She nodded vigorously. "I really do mean it. I want you to stay. I can't watch you walk away from me again. I feel like I'll die if you do."

He grinned and chuckled. "You're serious, aren't you?"

She growled and grabbed him by the collar before yanking him down and planting a kiss firmly on his lips. "Is that serious enough for you, general?"

He smirked and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. "Oh, I think we can do better than that." Then he pulled her up on her tiptoes before giving her a deep, slow, exploratory kiss.

They were both so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice the black SUV parked a short distance away where three wide sets of eyes watched them, nor did they see the brief flash when their picture was taken.

Inside the vehicle, Kunzite hissed, "What the hell are you doing, Jed?"

The blonde man shrugged. "What do you think I'm doing? That was a total Kodak moment, one that I never thought would happen. Just wait until Serena and Mina get a load of that." His fingers were already busy pressing buttons as he texted the candid shot of Lita and Nephrite playing tonsil hockey to his fellow blondes.

When he was done he sat back with a sigh. "Looks like I'm the only odd man out now. But seeing Neph finally snare Lita gives me hope that I will eventually wear Raye down. She's got to give in sometime, right?"

Zoicite leaned forward from the back seat and clasped him on the shoulder. "Sure she will, buddy! Like you've said before, she's just stubborn. But you've been doing good about keeping the lecherous behavior down to a minimum and every time I see you around her you act like a gentleman. So she'll come around eventually."

"Here's hoping," Jadeite groaned. Then he nodded toward the couple that was still standing in the rain. "I wish I could hear what those two are saying. Serena and Mina would be willing to pay big bucks to get the details of that conversation."

Kunzite harrumphed. "Mina is corrupt enough without you egging her on. I'm surprised that she hasn't already started burning my phone up since you sent her that picture." Just then his phone rang and he rolled his eyes. "I spoke too soon."

He answered it hesitantly, being careful to not put the phone too close to his ear. "Hello."

The love goddess's voice tore through the interior of the vehicle like she was on speakerphone. "Great Aphrodite! Am I looking at this picture right? Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing? Are they actually kissing?"

Jadeite and Zoicite chuckled while Kunzite shook his head. Nobody could stop Mina once she started on a rant.

Back outside, Lita and Nephrite had pulled apart from each other, but they were still close enough to keep their arms around each other.

"Can I interest you in that burger now?" Nephrite asked with a grin. "It's still kind of early and I'm a little hungry from our workout."

Lita looked down at her soaked clothes and then ran a hand through her bedraggled hair that had long since fallen out of her ponytail. "Do you mind taking a rain check on that? I don't exactly look like I should be out in public right now."

He looked a little disappointed, but he nodded. "Sure, some other time. Can I at least give you a ride home?"

Her face suddenly brightened. "I have an idea! Why don't you come to my place? I can whip us up something to eat and we can talk. We have a lot to catch up on."

His slate blue eyes began to shine hopefully. "You don't mind?"

She waved a hand. "Nah! It won't be any trouble at all. I could pull off a seven course meal in my sleep."

He grabbed her by the hand and led her to the passenger door of his truck where he opened it for her. "Your carriage awaits, milady," he said with a bow.

Lita laughed as she climbed in. Nephrite practically ran around the truck to get in behind the wheel.

The big black truck pulled away, followed a few minutes later by the SUV.

Of the five people that had just been there, none of them had noticed the pair of smoldering violet eyes that had also been watching the scene from behind a tree. The infuriated girl snapped a stick she had been holding in her hands in two. In spite of the wetness of the wood, the two pieces burst into flames in her hands before she threw them down into a puddle of water and took off running into the night.

* * *

Chad sat on the wooden porch of the shrine, lightly strumming on his guitar as he hummed along. It was just after midnight, so he played softly to keep from waking anyone up. Grandpa would never admit it, but he was starting to get along in years and needed his rest. And Raye…well, she was just plain scary when she was disturbed. And her temper had been even shorter than usual since Jadeite had been hanging around so much, so the last thing he wanted was to bring her wrath down on him.

He should really be in bed himself, tomorrow was Friday, and Fridays were usually fairly busy around there. But he just wasn't quite feeling tired enough to go to sleep yet, so he'd decided to play for a while.

As the youngest child of a wealthy family, he'd never had any huge aspirations in life. He had two older brothers that helped his father run the family company. His sister had married well and her husband helped out too, so there really wasn't a place for him there. Not that he minded, business had never been his thing anyway, so he was grateful that his family pretty much left him alone to do his thing.

During high school he had gotten to playing around with music and had thought that maybe that was his path in life. After graduation he had blown off college and had wandered around, playing a gig here and there when a band needed someone to fill in, but nothing permanent had ever panned out.

It had taken him time to come to terms with the truth. He was a decent guitar player, but he wasn't great. And he definitely wasn't up to competing on a professional level. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't sing to save his life. So he had finally shelved that idea.

He really didn't mind. He enjoyed his life here at the shrine. He always counted himself extremely lucky that he had decided to sit down and rest on the steps of the shrine that night almost three years ago. Who knew where he would be now if he hadn't. Raye had looked at him like he was a bum in the beginning, but her grandfather had taken one look at him and invited him in. And he'd been there ever since.

He didn't have the calling to become a priest or anything like that, but he enjoyed working there. It was a simple life that amazingly appealed to him. But he was a young man, and he still had a life outside the shrine. He dated regularly, although no one girl in particular had stolen his heart yet, and he had recently begun taking on weekend deejay jobs for some of the local clubs. That helped feed his need for music while allowing him to continue his life here and balanced everything out nicely.

Knowing that it was getting late and he needed to sleep, he strummed one last chord and then stood up. As he did he heard a rhythmic pounding noise that he knew all too well and panicked. He'd thought that Raye had been asleep in her bedroom because he hadn't seen her in a few hours. Obviously he was mistaken.

He looked around desperately for a place to hide. If the pounding of her footsteps were any indication, then Raye was in a really foul mood. In when Raye was in a bad mood any innocent bystander that was unfortunate enough to be caught in her path ran the risk of bodily injury.

But there was nowhere to go, and he found himself stuck as the raven-haired girl came stomping around the corner of the building. He remained perfectly still, wishing that he possessed the power to become invisible so that she couldn't see him. But the best that he could hope for was for her to just pass on by without a word.

At least that was what he thought until he took a good look at her. It had stormed earlier in the evening, and she looked like she had walked about ten miles in it. She had long since dried, but her clothes hung from her in wrinkles and her normally silky hair hung in tangles around her.

Knowing that he was chancing the loss of a limb, Chad reached out to put a hand on her arm as she passed. "Raye, are you okay?"

Instead of jerking away and yelling at him like she normally would, she merely said softly, "I'm fine."

He was skeptical. "Are you sure? Because, no offense, you look like you've been through hell."

She looked up at him then, and he flinched at the sight of her eyes. He'd expected them to glare at him, but instead they were flat, empty pools of violet surrounded by red, swollen skin.

"You are not fine!" he demanded. "What happened? Did somebody hurt you?"

A little light returned to her eyes and she even smiled slightly as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "You really are a sweet guy, you know. Sometimes I wish I could have fallen for someone like you, someone that's open and uncomplicated. But I'm afraid I'm cursed. No, Chad, nobody hurt me except myself. That's one thing that I've always excelled at. But I'll get over it. I always do. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and really want to get some sleep."

He reluctantly let her go. He wanted to insist that she tell him what was wrong, but he knew better than to press his luck. Raye's moods could change quicker than a switch being thrown, and he didn't want to make her mad. Besides, he was pretty sure he knew what had her down. This depressed mood had Jadeite's name written all over it.

He had come to like the blonde jokester, but maybe it was time for him to say something to him. It was obvious the guy was head over heels for Raye, and Chad was fairly certain that Raye was in love with Jadeite, but she was like a sister to him and he couldn't stand to see her hurting.

"Yeah, I'll say something to him. This has got to stop. It's not good for her," he muttered.

"You will say nothing," Grandpa Hino said as he stepped out of the shadows. "Raye and Jadeite are the only ones that can battle the demons that exist between them. I know it's hard on her, and I don't like seeing her miserable either, but we must let them be. Is that understood?"

Chad wanted to argue, but in the end he nodded. He had come to respect grandpa's wisdom over the years, and he decided to trust him now. If the old man said that this was for the best, then he would leave it alone. "Yes sir."

Grandpa grinned. "Good boy! Now let's hit the bed. Morning will be here before we know it, and there will be pretty girls everywhere. We don't want to miss that."

Chad shook his head. That man was a total enigma to him. How could a man be so wise, and yet so lecherous at the same time?

In her room, Raye threw herself across her bed without even bothering to change clothes. She felt like she could cry for days, but her eyes remained dry. She was all cried out.

Exhaustion washed over her and she fell into a fitful sleep within minutes. She tossed and turned restlessly the rest of the night as her dreams were filled with visions of fire, golden hair, and laughing blue eyes while a husky tenor voice whispered words of love in her ear.

She woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, and rasping cough. She felt stiff and dirty, so she dragged herself to the bathroom for a hot bath before pulling on a pair of pajamas and crawling back to her bed to huddle under the covers.

When her grandfather came to wake her she told him that she was sick. The old man clucked his tongue and left for a minute before returning with a glass of orange juice and some aspirin. After he made her take the medicine he left her with strict orders to stay in bed.

She assured him that she had no intentions of going anywhere. Once he was gone she lay there with her teeth clenched together to keep them from chattering as chills raced over every inch of her body. This was worse than being caught in one of Mercury's icy mists.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore, and she forced her aching, protesting body out of the bed, dragging her pillow and blankets with her. She stumbled the short distance to the room that housed the Great Fire, welcoming its warmth as she entered. She prayed for it to chase this horrible coldness away as she collapsed next to it and passed out.

* * *

"So what do you want to do today?" Kunzite leaned down to ask softly in Mina's ear.

She giggled and leaned away as his breath tickled her. "I don't know." She looked across the table at their companions. "Do you guys have anything planned?"

Serena grinned as she snatched a french fry off of Darien's plate, ignoring his protest. "Nope not really. I just know that I don't want to go home. Sammy's got all of his little goober friends over at the house and I cannot handle sitting there and listening to them yelling at the video games. I was worried there for a while that mom was going to make me stay there and baby-sit them while she went out, but thankfully she decided that since they are all thirteen now they should be old enough to be trusted to be left alone for a while. So if they blow the house up it's not my fault."

Amy leaned across Zoicite. "I haven't made any definite plans for today, but I was kind of wanting to…"

"If you say you want to go to the library, I'll drag you out back and whip out my love chain so quickly that you won't know what hit you!" Mina growled menacingly. "We are on summer vacation for crying out loud, and you need to start acting like it! There is no written law that says that you have to be a whole semester ahead when school starts back in the fall. It's geniuses like you that make the rest of us average students look bad."

Amy sniffed. "Average! Average students at least make an attempt to pay attention. You spent your whole English final staring out the window."

"Then that shows how much attention you were paying to your own test if you had time to watch and see what I was doing," Mina retorted. "Besides, I can call myself average, thank you very much! I managed to pull out C's on all of my exams."

Serena's hand collided with her shake glass and it would have gone toppling over if it hadn't been for Darien's quick reflexes. She looked back and forth between Mina and Amy with a pale face. "You two got your term results in already?"

"Mine was in the mail this morning," Amy told her.

Mina rolled her eyes. "And covered with A's, I'm sure. Mine came in this morning too. Didn't you get yours, Serena?"

Serena shook her head. "I don't know. I figured mom had already checked the mail, so I didn't bother when I left the house. I bet it's sitting in the mailbox right now just waiting to tell me that I flunked everything!" Her voice was fast approaching a wail.

Darien winced at the sound and hurried to put a calming arm around her. "Take it easy, Sere! There's no way that you failed anything. You studied really hard for all of those tests. I bet you passed everything with flying colors."

Her shoulders slumped. "I bet I didn't. I may have done okay on History and Literature. I might have even scraped by in English and Biology. But Geometry…" She shuddered at the thought of her nemesis. Math had always been trouble for her. "I just know I flunked that one."

"Maybe not," he said supportively. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Mina clapped her hands together. "I have an idea! Let's get everybody together and go do something! We're already a week into summer and we haven't really done anything yet. We'll even drag Raye along whether she wants to or not. She's been avoiding us far too much lately."

"I don't think it's exactly us that she's been avoiding," Amy mumbled as she slid her eyes toward the arcade counter where Jadeite stood talking to Andrew.

"That's true," Serena said softly. "Maybe we should start forcing her to do stuff with us. She can't stay away forever just because Jed's part of the group."

Mina nodded emphatically. "That's right! She's just going to have to learn how to be social. Now we'll need to get a hold of Lita and Nephrite too. They should have no problems being together after what happened between them last night."

"Ah! But that's only if you can manage to get in touch with them," Jadeite spoke up as he joined them. He grabbed a chair from a nearby table and turned it around backward before straddling it. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "They may not exactly be in the mood for company."

"What are you talking about?" Mina asked in an irritated tone.

Jadeite's eyes widened in a falsely innocent look. "You mean the guys didn't tell you? Little Nephie never came home last night after his rendezvous with Lita. I've tried calling him, but his phone is turned off."

"WHAT!" Serena, Mina, and Amy shrieked together as they all three bolted up from their seats.

"Calm down," Zoicite said in a placating tone. "As usual, Jadeite is making things sound worse than they are. It is true that Nephrite did not come home, but I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation."

"Oh my god! I have to call Lita right now!" Mina exclaimed, digging in her pockets for her phone.

Amy grabbed her wrist. "No need for that. Here they come now."

All eyes swung to the door as Lita and Nephrite came in. They were walking side by side, but Lita was waving her hands around as she spoke.

"No way! I will not be going back there!" she was saying. "Did you see how overcooked that broccoli was? And don't even get me started on how tough the meat was in the pepper steak. I don't think a chainsaw could even cut through that."

"But the shrimp fried rice was excellent," Nephrite protested. "I'm starting to think you might be overly critical of anything cooked by somebody other than yourself."

She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "I am not! It's just that when I go out somewhere and pay for food, I expect it to be decent and not substandard."

A rabid feline grin appeared on Mina's face. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in."

Amy sat back down, muttering, "Uh oh! The love goddess is on the warpath again. Everybody duck and cover."

Serena took her seat again and slumped down low. "Do you think if we crawl under the table we may have a chance to get away before she blows?"

Lita looked up at her friends and blushed a little. "Hey guys! I guess you can see that Nephrite and I made up."

Mina rolled her eyes. "That was news about fifteen hours ago. So what have you two been up to?"

"We went to that new Chinese restaurant that just opened up for lunch. But…" Lita stopped abruptly as her eyebrows scrunched together. "Wait a minute! How do you know about what happened last night?"

Mina waved her hand that was still clutching her cell phone. "I can show you exactly how I know." She flipped the phone open.

Jadeite jumped up and tried to grab it from her. "That's okay, Mina! No one wants to see that again."

"No one wants to see what?" Nephrite growled. "What have you done now, Firebreather?"

Jadeite held up his hands. "I haven't done anything! I swear I haven't! Mina's just had a little too much caffeine and sugar and she's talking off the top of her head, that's all. I think she may be hallucinating."

"Ha!" Mina crowed. "Well if I'm hallucinating, then I explain how I got this!" She pushed the blonde man out of her way and held her phone out toward the clueless couple. Proudly displayed on the screen was a picture of them, both dripping wet and locked in a heated embrace against the side of Nephrite's truck.

The blood drained from Lita's face. "Oh…my…god!" she whispered.

Nephrite's face went bright red. He turned and lunged for Jadeite, who somehow managed to avoid him. "You son of a bitch! I know you were behind that! How the hell did you get that picture?"

Jadeite hurriedly pointed to Kunzite and Zoicite. "They made me go with them! They wanted to make sure that you two weren't going to kill each other, so they dragged me along as backup. I knew I'd need proof when I passed on the word that the two of you were an item again, so I took advantage of the situation."

Nephrite looked to Kunzite. "You were there too?"

The platinum haired man nodded. "Yes. Like Jed said, we just wanted to make sure no one got hurt. We weren't expecting things to turn out the way they did though. And I sure didn't encourage him to take that picture."

"All of that is beside the point," Mina said dismissively. "What I want to know is where the two of you have been since then. I heard that Nephrite never went home last night, so that makes people wonder."

Color snapped back to Lita's face. "You little hentai! Leave it to you to automatically suspect something like that! Not that it's any of your business, but we went back to my place. I cooked dinner for us and then we talked. At some point we both fell asleep and didn't wake up until this morning. Does that satisfy your curiosity, Little Miss Aphrodite?"

Mina sat down with a smug expression her face. "Immensely. Now that we have all of that out of the way, it's time to get back to business. We have to come up with something to do today. This is our vacation, after all. Serena, get Raye on the phone and tell her to get her butt down here or we're going to come up to the shrine and drag her out by her hair."

Serena pulled out her phone. "She may be busy. You know the shrine can get a little crowded on Fridays."

"I don't care!" Mina retorted, tossing her head. "She's going to have to climb down off of her high horse and start getting back into the swing of things. I'm tired of her childish behavior. It won't kill her to be civil for a few hours."

Serena had to agree with her, so she scrolled down her contact list until she reached Raye's name and pressed the call button. The line rang several times before going to voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message.

"That's weird," she mused. "Raye always answers her phone, even if it's just for three seconds to yell at me that she's busy. Maybe she left it in her room or something. I'll try the shrine and see."

She dialed the shrine's number and waited. On the fifth ring someone answered. "Hikawa Shrine. May I help you?"

"Hey, Chad!" Serena said brightly. "Is Raye around? I tried calling her cell, but I didn't get an answer."

"So what are we going to do today?" Mina chirped, leaving the Raye wrangling up to Serena. "There's the amusement park, but it's probably really crowded today. We could go hang out at the park, I guess, maybe get some kites and frisbees and pack a picnic for later. There's also rowboat rentals there, that could be fun."

"Or…" Lita drawled. "I could go by the store and pick up some things and we could go to your house and take advantage of the pool. I was enjoying my swim yesterday until it got interrupted."

Nephrite grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"What!" Serena's exclamation brought the attention back to her. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open in shock. "Yeah, that's way weird. I'm on my way over there right now, okay. See ya soon!"

She hung up and began pushing against Darien. "Let me out. I've got to get to the shrine."

Darien slid over as Amy and Zoicite got up to let them out. "What's going on?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. Chad said that Raye is sick, like _really _sick. She didn't even get up out of bed this morning."

Amy's look immediately turned concerned. "That sounds like it could be serious. We usually have to force her to get rest whenever she has a cold or anything. That's definitely not like her."

"You can say that again," Lita agreed. "Remember that time back during the Black Moon attack when Emerald made all of us except Mina sick? Mina said she almost had to tie Raye to the bed to make her rest."

Mina nodded. "It's true. She was coughing and sneezing and obviously running a fever when I got there and she was outside sweeping leaves. I couldn't believe it." Then she whacked Jadeite over the head with her purse. "You idiot! Couldn't you sense that something was wrong with her?"

Jadeite covered his abused head with his arms. "Ow! Damn woman! What are you carrying in that thing, bricks?"

"It's cans of tuna for Artemis," she snapped. "But don't change the subject! Now start talking fire boy!"

He sighed. "She told me that she didn't want me using our bond, so I stopped. But then she started ignoring me completely and I couldn't help myself. I was following her home from the store the other night and I used it, just for a split second, to try and sense what she was feeling. Well she felt me do it and we got into a fight. A little fire was exchanged and then she stormed away. She's been blocking me ever since."

Darien chuckled. "So I was right. You two were responsible for the fire in that empty lot."

Jadeite nodded. "Yeah. I was able to put out most of it before I heard the sirens coming and had to get out of there."

"You say she's been blocking you," Mina said slowly, her brow wrinkled up like she was thinking really hard. "Can you sense her now? If she's sick she may not be concentrating on keeping you out."

He closed his eyes. After several long moments they snapped back open as he shivered violently. "Oh she's sick all right! If I felt like that I wouldn't get out of bed either."

"I'm going to check on her," Serena said determinedly.

"I'm going with you," Amy declared, grabbing her purse. "That way I can scan her and see what's going on. I'm sure it's just a cold, but it sounds like a nasty one if it's knocked her out of commission. I also want to make sure that she's taken some medicine."

"I'm coming too," Mina asserted. "I know my nursing skills leave a lot to be desired, but I can at least try to be some moral support."

Lita hedged for a moment. "Does she know about…this?" She gestured between herself and Nephrite.

Serena shook her head. "Are you kidding? Have you ever heard the phrase _'shoot the messenger'_? None of us are crazy enough to be the one to tell her. So you're safe for now."

"How about this," Darien proposed. "We'll all head in that direction. The guys and I will wander around and talk to Grandpa Hino and Chad while you girls go check on Raye. One you've made sure she's okay and resting comfortably we'll head to Mina's and go swimming." He leaned down to whisper in Serena's ear, "I'm looking forward to seeing you in that black bikini again."

She grinned at him. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go."

They all filed out of the arcade. And since the shrine wasn't a far walk from there, they were climbing up the long flight of stairs in what seemed like no time at all.

Just before they reached the top, Serena stopped and turned to address Kunzite, Zoicite, and Nephrite. "Just to warn you guys, Raye's grandpa is a huge flirt. But he's a harmless, lovable old man, so don't take anything he says too seriously, okay."

As if to reinforce her words, a group of teenage girls passed them coming down the stairs. One was saying, "That Chad guy was kind of cute, but that old priest was creepy. Isn't there some kind of law that says old men can't hit on young girls? There for a minute I thought he was going to pull a Miroku and ask me to bear his child. That's gross!"

Serena, Mina, Lita, and Amy all shared a look before giggling. Then they continued up.

Chad was at the charm booth waiting on two swooning girls. He waved briefly in greeting when he saw them.

Grandpa was standing nearby, and he zoomed in on them almost as soon as they entered the courtyard. He hurried over as fast as his short little legs could carry him. "All of Raye's pretty little friends have come to visit me at the same time! Kami-sama has definitely smiled down on me today to surround me with such angels!"

All of the girls giggled and went forward dutifully to give their _adopted _grandfather a hug and a kiss on the cheek, making the old man beam.

Then he sobered. "I guess you're here to check on Raye. You'll find her in the fire chamber. I went to check on her a while ago and found her there. I tried to convince her to go back to bed, but she says that she's cold and doesn't want to leave the fire's warmth. Maybe you'll have more luck with her than I did. She'd be more comfortable in bed than laying on that hard floor."

Serena patted his arm. "We'll see what we can do. Why don't you and the guys visit and let us girls work our magic?"

The four girls hurried to the room that housed the Great Fire. As always, the heat blasted them harshly as they opened the door and took their breath for a moment, but the sight of the huddled, shivering figure on the floor overrode their discomfort.

"Oh, Raye!" Serena exclaimed as she hurried to her friend's side. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

"Wh…what are y…you girls do…doing here?" Raye forced out between chattering teeth.

"We came to check on you, silly," Mina said lightheartedly as she sank to her knees beside Serena. "Chad told us that you were sick, so here we are! Don't worry, I'm not going to try to play nurse this time."

"Thank heaven for that," Lita teased. "It took me two full days to get my apartment back in order after Nurse Venus attacked. So how are you doing, girlfriend? Don't take this the wrong way, but you look wasted."

Raye eyes narrowed just a little as she looked at her tall, athletic friend, but then she was attack by a spasm of bone rattling coughs. When it passed she gasped out, "Honestly, I feel like shit. But I'll make it through this."

Amy clucked her tongue as she finished scanning Raye with the Mercury computer. "Well you definitely picked up a nasty little bug. You're congested and you have a very high fever. Have you taken anything for it."

Raye shrugged. "I had some aspirin, but that was early this morning. It's worn off now."

Amy shook her head. "Well you need more. And you need to be in bed. The floor is no place for you to be."

"But the fire is warm," Raye complained. "I'm so cold."

"You'll be more comfortable in bed," Amy stated firmly. "The chills will go away once the fever goes down. I'm sure you're achy, and that hard floor isn't going to make them feel any better."

"Come on, Raye," Serena cajoled. "We'll cover you with twenty blankets if we have to so you can get warm. So please let us get you back to bed."

"Fine!" Raye grumbled. She pushed herself up into a sitting position only to fall back with a moan. "I'm so dizzy."

Serena thought quickly. "Darien's here. Do you want me to get either him or Chad to carry you to your room?"

"Not Chad," Raye protested. "That idiot would probably drop me and then I'd have to kill him."

"Zoicite's here too," Amy said hesitantly. "I would really like to get a second opinion from him since he's an actual doctor. Do you mind?"

Raye grimaced. Then she groaned, "Whatever! I don't care anymore!"

"We'll be right back!" Serena said brightly as she and Amy left the room to go back outside. All the guys had disappeared except for Jadeite, who was sitting on the porch.

"Hey, Jed," Serena said gently. "Raye wants to go back to her room, but she's too dizzy to walk. Do you think you could carry her?"

Amy's startled eyes flew to her. "What are you doing? She said Darien."

"I'm pulling a Mina and meddling," Serena declared. "Raye will thank me for it later."

"It's your funeral," Amy muttered. "I'm going to go find Zoicite." She almost ran away, thinking to escape the explosion that was about to hit.

Jadeite's eyes flickered toward the door to the fire chamber. "Go find Darien to carry her. She doesn't want me around."

Serena was not usually a violent person, but she reached down and grabbed him by the arm. Calling on just a bit of her scout power, she jerked him to his feet.

"Hey!" he protested. "What's with you and Mina manhandling me today? I know I'm good looking and all, but I don't mess around with my friends' girls. Besides, you girls are strong. Lita alone could probably carry her. So why me?"

"Because I'm trying to give you a chance to be a gentleman, you moron!" she hissed. "Right now Raye is not in a fighting mood. This is the perfect opportunity for you to turn on a little charm if you don't blow it!"

"Fine!" he huffed. "But just so you know, she'll probably roast me for this. And I hope it weighs on your conscience when she does." He followed her into the chamber.

Both Mina and Lita's eyes widened when they saw him and they quickly scuttled out of the way. He held back a sigh as he knelt down next to Raye and took in her pale features. She definitely did not look well.

Her eyes flickered open and she stared at him for a minute before rasping out, "What are _you _doing here?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't burst a blood vessel, Firefly. I'm just giving you a lift."

She tried to pull away from him. "I don't need _your _help. I can make it on my own."

Irritation flared inside of him. "Well tough! You're getting my help whether you like it or not! I'd rather you be pissed at me for carrying you rather than take a chance of you falling flat on your face, so deal with it!" He pulled her weakly struggling body into his arms.

Suddenly she melted against him. "Oh!" she gasped. "You're so warm!" She burrowed tightly against his chest. "You feel like a furnace."

He couldn't help but grin at her reaction. He'd known that she was cold, so he summoned forth just enough of his powers to heat his body up in hopes of offering her some comfort. Obviously that had worked out in his favor. He stood with her cradled in his arms.

Serena smiled broadly and winked at him as she went to open the door for him. Then she hurried to Raye's room to get that door for him as well.

He walked in and looked forlornly at the bed. The last thing he wanted to do was lay her down, but it was the gentlemanly thing to do. He'd carried her to bed, now it was time to let her go. He bent to lay her on the sheets.

Her arms tightened around his neck like a vice. "Don't let me go," she mumbled sleepily, her lips brushing his skin where she had her face buried against his neck. "The cold will come back."

He shared a stunned look with Serena. Both of them were surprised by her request, but he wasn't complaining. So he turned and sat on the bed with her in his arms.

Amy bustled in then with Zoicite. The young doctor gave the half asleep Raye a quick going over before he concurred with Amy's diagnosis. It was just a cold. The two of them rummaged around in the bathroom's medicine cabinet until they found some cold medicine. Then they roused the patient long enough for her to take a dose. After that she seemed to fall asleep.

Jadeite continued to sit there, keeping the heat forcing through him to keep her warm.

After about half an hour she began sweating and shifted in his arms as she pushed against him. "I'm hot!" she whimpered.

Amy whipped her computer out and did a quick scan. She smiled at the results. "Her fever is coming down nicely. She'll probably have a nice long sleep now. We should probably tuck her in."

Jadeite was still reluctant to release her, but he knew she needed her rest. So he laid her down and pulled the covers gently over her. She sighed and squirmed around a bit before settling down into sleep. Her breathing became deep and even.

He gave into temptation and bent down to brush a kiss over her forehead. "Sleep well, Firefly." He turned and left the room.

In her sleep, Raye smiled.

* * *

**A/N **So some progress is being made. Lita and Nephrite are on the mend and there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon that our fiery couple will be kissing and making up soon. I also enjoyed expanding on Chad a little bit. I know I haven't really included him a whole lot in this saga, but he will be making a small appearance in an upcoming chapter of GT, so I wanted to give some background and insight into him, and this worked out perfectly. But just because most of our couples seem to be calming down, that doesn't mean that the drama is over yet. There're still a few things left I want to cover before I wrap this story up. So I hope you enjoyed it. Don't be shy about leaving me those reviews, I love to hear from you guys and find out what you think, so go ahead and let me know. I'll catch you next update! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	12. Smoother Sailing

**A/N **I know, I know! I'm running behind with updates. My damn real life keeps intruding. Only a week and a half until summer vacation starts though, and then I'll be free from work for a while. That's one of the wonderful perks of working for a school. I can't wait! On top of all of that I have been keeping a close eye on the mighty Mississippi River. I may live just right outside of Nashville now, but I was born and raised in Memphis and I still have a lot of friends and family that live there. Luckily none of them live near the river, but some of them work near it, so I've been on the phone a lot talking to people to get the lowdown on what's happening in my hometown. Anyway, enough of that. Let me give out my hugs real quick and we'll move on. BIG HUGS TO:

**sabina21**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**jade2nightwing**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**x-YingYing-x**

**JuliaGulia17**

**Chibi Kitt**

**Forest Sentry Koneji**

**GoldenDragon326**

**idfcv**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**AngelStar14**

**SammieAtHome**

**Lilcala**

**saveme57**

**AyameRose**

**KageNoNeko**

**Katie**

**unlockurdestiny**

**rainbabie**

**Darkitty04**

**Seredhiel05**

**nerdyjocktothextreme**

**Isis2010**

**LBricker88**

**blk0912**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**sailorashes**

**Hotgirlow**

**LadyRosalie29**

You guys are the most awesome-nest as always! Okay, lots of cutesy little couple moments are ahead, so I'm going to let you get on with it.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 12

Smoother Sailing

* * *

"What the HELL!" Jadeite roared as a wave of water splashed over him where he was sitting under the shade of an umbrella on Mina's back patio. He glared at a smug looking Nephrite, who was floating on his back in the deep end of the pool. "That wasn't funny, you jackass!"

Nephrite snorted. "Don't go getting pissy with me, hothead! I didn't do it."

Jadeite's blue eyes crackled as he swung them over the other occupants of the pool. Kunzite was busy play wrestling with a giggling Mina as they tried in vain to dunk each other. Lita was on the diving board, poised to take a dive as she warned Nephrite that he better move. The only other two, Amy and Zoicite, were sitting in the shallow water on the steps that led down into the pool.

His gaze narrowed on those last two. They should be the perfect candidates for splashing him since they both had a supernatural control over water. But Amy didn't have a mean or malicious bone in her body and Zoicite wasn't usually the type to play practical jokes of that nature. But as he continued to look at them he saw his dark blonde friend glance up with what could only be described as a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Very funny, Zoi!" he snarled.

Zoicite didn't appear to be fazed in the least. "Stop stressing out so much, Jed. She's going to be fine. It's just a cold. Yeah, it's a bad one, but she should bounce back in a couple of days. She's probably had it coming on for a while."

Next to him, Amy sniffed. "Yeah, and her being out running around until all hours of the night in the rain probably didn't help things any."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jadeite snapped, very loudly, getting everyone's attention.

Nephrite flipped over and swam to the edge of the pool where he propped his arms on the side. "Weren't you standing there when Chad told us that Raye came dragging in after midnight last night looking like she had been put through the wringer?"

"No," Jadeite grumbled. "I must have already walked off at that point."

"He said that she looked really out of it. Like her best friend had died or something," Mina piped up from where she was perched on Kunzite's back with her arms locked around his neck.

Jadeite glared furiously at Lita. "You just had to make it rain, didn't you?"

Lita glared right back at him as she shook her wet hair from her face from her recent dive. "Don't try to pin this on me! How the hell was I supposed to know that she would be crazy enough to be out running around in the middle of it?"

"It's nobody's fault," Kunzite said in an authoritative tone. "So there is no sense in everybody getting worked up over it. Raye will recover and be back to her happily grouchy self before we know it. Right now there is nothing we can do except let her get her rest, so we may as well enjoy ourselves on this beautiful summer day."

"Yeah, so come on and jump in. The water feels great," Nephrite cajoled.

"In a minute," Jadeite muttered as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

He was still sitting there brooding a few minutes later when the gate swung open and Serena came barreling through with a huge smile on her face and waving a piece of paper in her hand.

"You guys aren't going to believe this!" she shrieked. " I passed everything!"

Darien followed her at a somewhat slower pace, but with a look of pride on his face. "She more than passed. She did extraordinarily well, especially by her normal meatball head standards."

She spun around and stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't be a jerk, Darien! I'm on top of the world and nothing is going to bring me down! I don't even think a new enemy attacking could kill my mood right now. I'm so psyched that I would probably just whip out the Silver Crystal and blast them in five seconds flat!"

"Those must be some grades," Lita snickered.

Amy, unable to contain her curiosity, jumped up and scrambled from the pool. "Let me see," she said, taking the paper from Serena. Her mouth fell open in shock as she scanned it. "Serena…you got two A's and the rest are all high B's."

"I know!" Serena squealed. "Can you believe it?"

"No way!" Lita growled as she climbed out of the water as well. "There is no way that Serena scored better than I did! I got all B's!"

"I hate to disappoint you, but she did," Amy stated primly, holding the paper up for Lita to see as proof.

Impressed, Lita whistled. "You go, girl! I'm glad I brought plenty of food, because this looks like it may turn into quite a party."

"Not with you guys talking about grades it won't!" Mina pouted. "You are seriously killing my vacation buzz with all of this school talk. I'm going to have to raid the liquor cabinet if you keep this up."

"Mina!" Amy scolded lightly. "This is a big deal! High school is important for determining what we're going to do with the rest of our lives."

The blonde love goddess snorted. "Puh-leeze! It's not like we don't already have some idea about how it's going to go. Or did you forget about our little trip into the future?"

"Of course not!" Amy retorted. "But just because we've had a glimpse of our future doesn't mean we can slack off in our studies. You can't take it for granted that just because you are the leader of the sailor scouts that means you don't need your education."

Mina waved a dismissive hand. "I'm not saying that at all, Amy! I'm just saying that for the first time in the last few years we have some down time without having to run around fighting one enemy or another and it just so happens that we are on summer vacation as well. So I, for one, would like to take advantage of this peaceful moment and soak up every bit of it. I'm proud of Serena's grades too. I always knew she had some brains locked away inside that head of hers. She'd have to if she is going to be a queen someday. But can't we just take time to enjoy life right now?"

"Wow!" Serena muttered. "I don't know if I should feel complimented or insulted by that little speech."

Mina sniffed daintily. "Oh, it's a compliment, but I must confess that I'm starting to feel a little bit abandoned. First you start actually getting up and going to school on time, so I had to start doing that too so I wouldn't get stuck sitting in detention by myself and now I don't even have you to depend on to keep me company when I have to take a make up test because you're passing them all on the first try. Poor little me! I'm so neglected."

"Airheaded flake!" Lita grumbled as she cannonballed back into the water.

Mina screeched loudly and ducked down from where she was still perched on Kunzite's back so that she was completely concealed by his much broader frame. This left the platinum haired general wide open to receive the brunt of the giant spray of water that slammed into him a second later as a result of Lita's jump.

He growled as the auburn haired girl resurfaced and swung a hand through the water to send a huge splash back at her. His counterattack hit her head on, but also managed to hit Nephrite as well. Within seconds an all out water battle had broken out.

Zoicite managed to stay out of it for a minute. But once he was splashed by someone's misaimed attack it was game on. He dove into the middle of the battle enthusiastically.

Amy giggled and ran to jump back into the pool to assist him.

Serena laughed as she watched her friends, happy to see them having so much fun. She had peeled off her clothes and was trying to ignore the heated looks that Darien was giving her bikini-clad form as she rubbed sun block into her skin. Then her gaze fell on the one person that had remained seated and quiet since their arrival.

"Jed, are you okay?" she asked softly.

He looked up at her with a grin, but it wasn't his usual easygoing, happy go lucky grin. This one didn't make his eyes glint, and it even looked a little sad. "I'm fine, Sere. I was just doing some thinking."

She looked at him with understanding. "About Raye? She's going to be fine, Jed."

He snorted. "I know that. I'm sure that she'll be back to being herself before I know it. And then she'll be back to pushing me away again. I hate that she's sick, but it was so nice earlier to be able to sit there and hold her without her screaming at me and telling me how much she hates me."

Serena's expression turned sympathetic. "Raye is the queen of denial. She doesn't hate you. She only says that because she feels like that's how she should feel. She's never been good at showing her true feelings. Not even to me. But even though she constantly calls me a clumsy crybaby, I know that inside she cares for me as deeply as I care for her. She may not show it, but I know the feelings are there. And when she's conflicted she lashes out in anger. That's just the way she is. But she'll come to terms with things eventually. I know she will. But until then you can't just sit around and beat yourself up over it. I didn't go down into the pits of hell to help give you a second chance at life just so I could sit around and watch you mope. Raye may not have come around yet, but you're not alone. You have us. So quit being such a grump and get up and join us for some fun!"

This time a genuine grin appeared on Jadeite's face. He raised an eyebrow in Darien's direction. "Is she always this bossy?"

Darien chuckled and nodded. "Always."

Serena jabbed him in the ribs. "I am not bossy. I just can't stand to see anyone being upset. Now quit badmouthing me and rub some lotion on my back." She shoved the bottle into his hands and turned around to present her back to him.

'_See what I mean?' _Darien mouthed to his friend.

Jadeite snickered and got up from his seat to walk over to the side of the pool where he dangled a foot over the edge and into the water. It felt amazing. Not too hot, not too cold. Serena was right. Sitting around and brooding wasn't going to solve anything. But he still felt an overwhelming urge to hurry back to the shrine just to be with Raye, even though he knew she was still asleep by taking a quick peek through their bond. It was a good thing she was asleep too. Not only did she need the rest, but also chances were also pretty high that she would blow a major gasket if she sensed him using the link between their souls.

He stood there waging an internal debate with himself. Maybe he should leave now and return to the shrine. Raye may not want him there, but he felt like he needed to be. He was no doctor, and his bedside manner probably sucked, but what if her fever came back. Surely was capable of getting her to take some medicine if that happened. Plus he had the added bonus of being able to offer her warmth if the chills returned.

"Are you going to get in or not?" a voice suddenly laughed next him as a hand shoved against his shoulder and pushed him into the pool.

He fell in with a spectacular splash, and when he resurfaced a few seconds later he glared at the man that was doubled over in laughter at the side of the pool. "Endymion! You asshole! This means war!"

* * *

_Rei stared pensively into the brightly burning fire as she sat under a brilliantly star spangled night sky. She heaved a sigh as her thoughts threatened to overwhelm her._

"_What's bothering you, love?" a softly spoken voice asked her._

_She turned to look at Jadeite, who was sprawled out on his back on the blanket next to her with his hands behind his head. He had been looking up and admiring the display of diamond bright sparkles in the sky, but now his blueberry gaze was fixed on her._

_Another sigh puffed past her lips. "I don't know. I guess it's just a little bit of everything." She fell silent again for a moment before whispering, "Do you ever think about the future?"_

_He shrugged. "I guess I do. Doesn't everybody?"_

"_I suppose so," she mumbled. "Where do you see yourself ten years from now?"_

_He sat up next to her. "Pretty much where I am now. I have my career and I'm happy with it. I have no intentions of leaving Endymion's service. I also have you, and I'm hoping that you'll play a part in that future as well. I know you have your duties the same as I do, but when Endymion and Serenity finally get to announce their relationship we'll be working together. It will be nice to not have to say goodbye to you all the time."_

_She shook her head. "Do you honestly think that will ever happen? It seems that this war with Beryl just keeps dragging on with no end in sight."_

_He chuckled. "She's a sly witch, I'll give her that. But she can't hold out against us forever. Eventually she'll slip up. And when that happens we'll put a stop to her causing all of this trouble and end this civil unrest. Hasn't your fire shown you at least that much?"_

_She got up on her knees and turned to face him fully, causing the skirt of the long, lightweight red dress she was wearing to twist around her legs. "Jed, when was the last time you attempted to do a fire reading?"_

"_It's been a while," he admitted. "I've been so busy that I haven't had the time. Besides, my visions are never as clear as yours are. You are much more talented at it than I am. Why? What has the fire shown you?"_

_She bowed her head. "Nothing. When I ask the fire to show me how this war is going to end it shows me nothing but blackness, and it scares me. I should be able to see something, even if it's nothing but just a glimpse of what's to come."_

_He put a hand under her chin and pulled her head up so that her eyes could meet his. He was off duty, as was she, and he looked so handsome in his red tunic and black pants that it made her heart ache._

"_You're stressing too much," he told her gently. "The fire probably just doesn't want to show you too much about your own immediate future. Endymion, Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoicite, and I are riding out in a few days with a large company of men to confront Beryl head on. Even with all of her little magician friends there's no way that she will be able to stand against us for long. We're going to put a stop to her once and for all. And then the future will be ours."_

_She flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck. "I sure hope you're right. Just promise me that you'll be careful. I don't trust that witch."_

_He chuckled and pulled back enough so that he could look down at her with a cocky grin. "Sweetheart, that demented bitch doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of even touching me. The guys and I will defeat her, and that will be that. It will all be over before you know it, so don't worry about it."_

_Uncharacteristic tears prickled her eyes. "You promise that you'll come back to me safe and sound?"_

_He cupped her cheek and whispered, "I promise." And then he kissed her deeply, bearing her back onto the blanket until his body covered hers._

Raye shivered as she woke up and a chill washed over her. Damn! Her fever must have come back. She felt achy and miserable, but at least it was nowhere near as bad as it had been before. This she could manage.

She lay in her bed with her eyes closed as she thought about the dream that she'd just had. Normally she tried to keep all dreams and memories of the Silver Millennium locked up in a dark corner of her mind, but this one had struck a chord deep inside her. She could remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

That night had been the last time that she had seen Jadeite until he had appeared on the moon that last day as Beryl's brainwashed puppet. She'd had a horrible feeling that something was wrong and had cried the entire time that they had made love. She had held onto him tightly and never wanted to let him go because something deep inside her had been trying to tell her that if she did she would lose him.

But they had both had their duties, and when the night was over she had left him on Earth to return to the moon while he had prepared to march into battle. It had been who they were, and they had no choice.

A light clacking sound invaded her thoughts and she couldn't help but smile inwardly. She would know that sound anywhere. After years of hanging around with Amy she knew the sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard when she heard it. Her friend's instinct to take care of the sick must have prompted her to stay here. She remembered waking up once briefly sometime in the late afternoon to find the blue haired girl hovering over her as she insisted that she wake up long enough to take another dose of cold medicine. She'd heard the other girls' voices in the background, but she'd been too tired to wake up and talk to them, so she'd just rolled over and gone back to sleep.

She also remembered feeling very cold again at one point. She had longed to crawl back in front of the fire again, but she had been so out of it that she couldn't even make herself wake up fully. Then that comforting warmth, the same one she had felt when she had allowed Jadeite to hold her earlier, had wrapped around her again and she had drifted off into peaceful oblivion.

She groaned mentally. Oh god! She had allowed Jadeite to hold her. Not only that, but she had clung to him like he was a lifeline. That was just great! Now that disgusting pervert would probably think that it meant something. She hadn't wanted to be so close to him, but when he had touched her and she felt the heat coming off of him she hadn't been able to help herself. She had been so cold, and he'd felt so good. He'd never let her live it down.

Above this disturbing thought several more invaded her mind. Her throat was as dry as a sun-baked desert and she felt slightly feverish, indicating that it was probably time for some more medicine. Her stomach felt empty and even a little bit hungry. Some hot tea and perhaps some soup would be a godsend right about now. But the most uncomfortable part was that she needed to go to the bathroom really, really badly.

She forced her eyes open and was greeted by darkness. Wow! It was nighttime. She had slept the entire day away. She had never done that before. That was more Serena's forte than hers.

The clicking of the keyboard had her raising her head up to look for Amy. She still felt a little lightheaded and thought that maybe her friend would help her get to the bathroom so she wouldn't fall flat on her face. And perhaps she could cajole a cup of tea out of her as well.

But when her eyes landed on the person sitting on the floor at the table in the center of her room she sucked in a shocked breath. The blonde haired man that was illuminated by the glow of light from a laptop was definitely not Amy.

"Jed!" she croaked in surprise.

He looked up from whatever he was working on with a boyish grin. "Hey! You're awake!"

"Obviously," she muttered irritably.

He jumped up and hurried to the side of her bed where he turned on a small, dim lamp as he sank to his knees beside her. "How do you feel?"

Ugh! Did he have to look so genuinely concerned? She wanted to rant and rave at him for invading the sanctuary of her bedroom, but she found it hard to do when she felt like crap and he looked so sweetly innocent. "I think I feel a little better," she finally grumbled.

His grin widened. "That's great! Is there anything I can get for you?"

She felt so confused. "Umm…What are you doing here, Jed?" She glanced at her clock. "It's after midnight."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh! Well I came back with the girls to check on you after we had gone swimming at Mina's earlier. They stayed for a while, but then I told them to get out of here and that I would stay with you. I seemed like the logical choice since I can warm you up when your fever gives you the chills."

She felt her face heat up. So she hadn't imagined that warmth when she had felt cold again. She had thought that perhaps her own powers had kicked in subconsciously to help warm her, but it must have been him. How embarrassing!

She sat up and tossed the blankets back, shivering a little as she lost what warmth the blankets had provided her.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

The cooler air had helped clear her senses just a bit, so she snapped back. "What does it look like I'm doing, genius? I'm getting up."

He jumped to his feet, looking extremely apprehensive. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You've been really out of it all day."

A growl rumbled in her dry, scratchy throat. "Look, _general_! I have been in this bed all day. I am thirsty, maybe even a little bit hungry, and I have some personal issues that need to be attended to. So move out of my way!"

He waved a frantic hand at her. "Shh! Your grandfather's asleep. Do you really want to wake him up?"

Her eyes narrowed on him. "Does he even know that you're here? Probably not! I can't imagine my grandpa allowing a guy to stay in my bedroom the whole night. What did you do, sneak in?"

He looked offended. "No! He knows that I'm here. In fact, I'm here with his blessing. I think he knows even less than I do about taking care of sick people because he looked relieved when I offered to stick around."

"I should have known," she groaned. Her grandpa had made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that he approved of Jadeite and thought that she should give him a chance, so in reality he'd probably jumped at the opportunity for the two of them to spend some time alone together.

She tried to squash her irritation at her closest relative. "Well I'm fine now, so you don't have to stick around," she ground out. "I feel well enough to take care of myself. Go home, Jadeite."

She pushed herself slowly to her feet and swayed slightly as the room spun a little bit around her. Instinctively, she clutched at his shoulder.

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Why do you always have to be so stubborn? You know, it wouldn't kill you to ask for help every now and then."

Oh how she wanted to slap that smug look off his face! But unfortunately she had to admit that she didn't have the strength to swat a fly at the moment. "Fine! Could you please help me to the bathroom then?"

"Whatever her ladyship wants!" he chirped in that annoyingly cheerful way of his before he swung her up into his arms.

"I said help me, not carry me!" she protested weakly as her arms wrapped around his neck like they had a mind of their own.

"Oh, quit your grumbling!" he quipped back. "This way is much easier and faster." He set her down again in the bathroom doorway. "See! That was quick, easy, and painless."

She fought back an insane urge to giggle at his playfulness and settled for mumbling a grudging, "Thanks," before slowly going inside the small bathroom and closing the door behind her.

She was still a little woozy, so it took her a few minutes, but she managed to relieve her full bladder and wash her hands and face. The water felt refreshing and helped perk her up just a little bit more. But she was still unprepared when she stepped back out the door and Jadeite snatched her up again. He ignored her murderous growls as he carried her into the kitchen and deposited her on a stool at the bar.

Then he set a couple of cold tablets and a glass of water in front of her. "Here, take those. Amy and Zoicite said to make sure you took them about every 4-6 hours, and it's been almost six hours. You don't want your fever to shoot back up again, do you?"

She shivered as she remembered the horrible chills that racked her body while her fever raged. Right now she only felt a little cold and her eyes burned, so her fever must be low grade at the moment. It was best to knock it out before it got out of control again. She quietly swallowed the pills without argument, relishing the feeling of the cool liquid as it bathed her throat.

Jadeite leaned casually against the counter. "So what can I get for you? I admit that I'm not much use in the kitchen, but I do know how to make a cup of tea. And I've gotten pretty good at operating a microwave as well. Lita brought over some soup that she made. I could warm that up for you."

'_You should tell him to go to hell!' _Raye's inner voice yelled at her, but her stomach chose that moment to growl hungrily. "Okay," she agreed reluctantly. "But you better not try to poison me. If I die because of something you serve me I swear I will come back and haunt your ass for eternity."

He smiled at her as he turned toward the sink to fill the kettle, but she caught a glimpse of sadness in his eyes and that made her feel lower than pond scum. Okay, she knew that it was petty of her to keep alluding to the fact that he had been brainwashed into killing her in the past, but it was just in her nature to be defensive whenever he was around. He may not be out to kill her anymore, but she still saw him as a threat…a threat to her heart and sanity.

She kept her mouth shut as he puttered around the small kitchen, and in just a few minutes she had a steaming mug of tea and a hot bowl of soup in front of her. She dug in with a gusto that would have made Serena proud and couldn't hold back a moan of satisfaction as the liquid warmth trickled down her aching throat to soothe her empty stomach.

"Man that Lita can cook," she said reverently.

Jadeite chuckled. "Yeah, she can. I had forgotten how talented she was in the kitchen, but she cooked for the rest of us earlier and it was phenomenal. I'd always considered Nephrite to be a decent cook, but what Lita comes up with makes his cooking look and taste like dog food."

Raye swirled her spoon through the soup. "So is it true that they are back together?"

His mouth fell open. "How do you know about that? They only got back together last night and you've been unconscious practically all day."

Then everything clicked into place for him. Raye stumbling home late after walking around for hours in the rain, looking like the world had come to an end, it all made sense now. "You were there," he said softly.

She shrugged. "It felt like things were getting pretty intense between them, so I went to make sure Lita didn't need any help. I didn't know I was going to get treated to the show of her and Nephrite getting hot and heavy up against the side of his truck."

Jadeite sighed. "Yeah, they're back together. Lita's really nervous about you finding out though. She's afraid that you'll see her as being a traitor and go supernova on her."

"Whatever floats her boat. It's her life," she replied as she popped another bite of soup in her mouth and swallowed. "I'm not going to hold it against her, Mina, or Amy for getting involved with your friends again. I just hope they don't get hurt."

"I don't think they will," he answered quickly. "Nephrite, Kunzite, and Zoicite truly care for them. None of us are bad guys, Raye. We just found ourselves in bad situation."

"Hmm…" she muttered in a neutral tone. She knew that none of them, including Jadeite, were bad. But that old saying flashed through her head. _'Once bitten, twice shy.' _Some people may live their lives by the three strikes and you're out rule, but not her. Life had taught her some bitter lessons. She turned her attention back to her food.

Jadeite left for a minute, and then returned with his laptop. He set it on the bar before taking a seat next to her. In no time at all he was engrossed in the computer as his fingers flew over the keys like a pro.

Raye finished her meal before asking curiously, "What are you looking at?"

He blinked and looked up. "Oh, just different computer programs and networks and stuff. The guys and I are planning on starting our own business. And since I seem to have a knack with computers, Kunzite put me in charge of all of the technical part."

She was starting to feel sleepy again, so she couldn't stop the giggle that bubbled past her lips this time. "From a fiery general to a computer nerd. Who would've thought it?" She smothered a yawn behind her hand as her head drifted unconsciously toward his shoulder.

He grinned at her. "I prefer to be referred to as a technology wizard, thank you very much. But now I think it's time to get you back to bed. Your medicine must be kicking in and making you sleepy. Amy said it was some pretty powerful stuff. Besides, you need your rest anyway."

Raye giggled again as he swept her up into his strong arms. Her head felt funny. She wasn't dizzy anymore, but she felt fuzzy. She felt just like she had the time that she and the girls had spent the night at Mina's and they played a drinking game. They hadn't drunk much, but then again they were all lightweights in the alcohol department so they hadn't needed to. She remembered the limp, giggly feeling of being buzzed though, and this felt very similar.

"Whoa!" she squealed lightly and flung her arms around his neck. "How do you pick me up so easily? I know I'm not a raging fat ass, but I'm not exactly tiny either. I'm almost 5'9" and I'm packing quite a bit of muscle."

He flashed her that boyish grin. "Sweetheart, what kind of general do you take me for? I may not be as solidly built as Kunzite and Nephrite, but I am 6'2" and I work out everyday. So handling a slender little thing like you is no problem."

Another high-pitched giggle pealed from her. "Ooo…a tough guy."

He smirked at her and shook his head. "Okay! Here we are!" He laid her down on the bed.

She pouted a little as he unwound her arms from around him and pulled away. She wasn't sure why she was flirting with him like this. Maybe that cold medicine had done something to her brain. But suddenly she didn't want him to let her go.

"Jed," she tried to purr, despite her slightly hoarse voice. "What would you do if I asked you to kiss me right now?"

To say that her question shocked him would be an understatement. He was stunned to the point that he wasn't sure if there was a word to describe the emotions that her words invoked in him. A war broke out inside of his head as his conscience battled against his baser, animalistic side.

_'What are you waiting for, dumb ass? She just practically issued you an invitation. So why are you just standing here staring at her? Go ahead and kiss her already! You know that's what you want.'_

'_No! Don't do it! Look at her eyes. She's not in her right mind right now. If you kiss her it will be the biggest mistake that you ever make. When the meds wear off she will be pissed and come after you and it will ruin any chance you have of getting her back.'_

In the end, the good guy won. He looked down into those hazy, almost pleading violet eyes and smiled gently. "I'd say thank you for the invitation, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass this time. If, by some miracle, I ever do get the chance to kiss you, I'd rather wait until you're clear headed. That way you can't accuse me of taking advantage of you later. Call me selfish, but I'm protecting my own ass."

"Whatever!" she snapped, sounding a little bit like herself again. "I didn't ask you to kiss me anyway. I just asked what you would do if I did, and you answered that. Now leave me alone. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep."

She pulled the blankets over her and rolled over so that her back was facing him. She lay there awake for a few minutes as she heard him moving around. There was the light clink of dishes as he cleared away the remnants of her late night meal, and then she heard his footsteps as he returned to sit at her table again. The clicks of him working on his laptop soon lulled her to sleep.

When she woke several hours later to the light of early morning she found herself alone in her room, but there was a note propped up on her bedside table.

_Raye – You seemed to be resting comfortably, so I went home to grab a shower and catch some sleep. I will be by to check on you later. I hope you feel better. – Jed_

Despite her feeling of annoyance at her past self's lover, she couldn't help but smile. Jadeite might be an obnoxious pain in the ass, but he did have a sweet side to him. She adamantly told herself that she was not looking for a relationship with the blonde jokester, but perhaps she could try being at least halfway friendly to him. After all, his prince and her princess were destined to wed and rule Crystal Tokyo someday, so they would probably end up having to spend a lot of time around each other. She may as well try to make the best of it. But she wasn't going to fall into the same trap her sister scouts had by getting romantically involved with the guy.

"Once bitten, twice shy," she repeated her mantra to herself. She would be cordial to him, but if he was looking for something more then that was just tough luck!

* * *

Mina looked up at the tall building in front of her hesitantly. "Amy, are you sure this is the right place?"

Amy looked at the paper in her hand and nodded. "This is the address that Zoicite gave me."

"Whoa! This place is huge!" Lita exclaimed next to them. "And they live at the very top. What are they doing, sitting up there in a cushy playboy pad?"

"Well we're not going to find out by standing around out here. Let's go," Mina stated as she strolled toward the door.

Amy and Lita followed her, and as they reached the large glass doors a doorman in a sharp looking uniform opened the door for them and inclined his head with a polite, "Good afternoon, ladies."

Lita's eyes widened as she took in the posh lobby while they strolled toward the elevators. "Good grief! I feel like I just walked into a swank hotel instead of an apartment building. I knew this building was pretty exclusive, but damn!"

"Because we're probably in the wrong place," Mina insisted. "I mean I know the guys have some money, but this is out of even their league."

"Well we're about to find out," Amy told them as the elevator opened for them. They stepped inside and the blue haired girl pressed the topmost button on the control panel. When prompted, she entered a security code that Zoicite had written down. The doors slid closed and the elevator began making a smooth, quiet ascent.

"I guess we're in the right place after all," Lita murmured as she leaned her shoulder against the wall and tried to force down the butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach.

The night before, when the girls had been making tentative plans with their new boyfriends, the guys had casually suggested that the girls come by and check out their new place. They had agreed since they were curious about where four recently brought back to life generals from a millennium ago were shacking up together.

The elevator glided gently to a stop, and the three girls glanced at one another curiously before stepping off and into a wide hallway. There was a tall window at one end that let in the early afternoon sunlight and only one door.

"This must be the place since there are no other doors to choose from," Mina chirped as she bounced over to it and pressed the doorbell button.

They held their breath and waited, expecting to hear the sounds of footsteps on the other side, but they heard nothing. So it was a surprise to them several seconds later when the door swung open unexpectedly.

Nephrite stood there drying his hands on a dishtowel. He grinned at the three gaping teenage girls on his doorstep. "Hey! You made it! Come on in!" He gestured for them to come through the door.

The girls stepped inside and their jaws dropped open as they got their first look around. They were in what would be considered the entry hall, but it resembled a ballroom with its gleaming marble floors and the sparkling chandelier that dangled down from the high ceiling. Doors that led to different rooms opened into it and two hallways branched off behind the wide, elegantly carved staircase that rose up to a large, open, second floor landing.

"Is this an apartment or a mansion?" Lita muttered as she turned in a circle, trying to take everything in.

Nephrite chuckled. "It is a little much, isn't it? We didn't have any say in it. Our future selves set it up and had it waiting for us when we got here. I think they may have gone a little overboard."

There was the tap of approaching footsteps as Zoicite appeared from one of the back hallways clutching a book in his hand. "Oh! You're here! I thought I heard the doorbell ring. It's kind of hard to hear it in the library."

"You have a library?" Amy gasped, her eyes already sparkling at the mere mention of the word.

He laughed. "It's not that big or impressive. It's more of a study really. But there is a fair collection of books in there. Would you like to see it?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yes, please."

"Right this way then," he answered as he offered his arm to her.

"And I want to see this fab kitchen you keep going on about," Lita insisted to Nephrite.

A chuckle rumbled in his throat. "I'm sure you do."

A shiver of awareness shuddered through Mina, and she looked up to see that Kunzite had appeared at the top of the stairs. He was silently watching her, and as her eyes met his the tiniest of smiles slightly turned up his lips.

"Mina," he greeted her cordially as he began descending the steps.

"Kunzite," she answered back, trying to keep her voice steady as she drank in the sight of him. She'd used to think that he was the most devastatingly handsome man in the universe when he wore the light gray uniform of the Earth's royal army. But she was quickly learning that modern clothes only enhanced his appeal. And he looked good enough to eat in his simple outfit of faded jeans and an untucked white button down with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled back over his forearms. For a guy that could be so formal, he pulled off the casual look well.

Kunzite, in turn, was admiring her just as closely. He thought she looked fresh and beautiful in a sleeveless, lightweight cotton summer dress with a short, swishy skirt. The color was a light pastel that wasn't quite pink, but wasn't quite peach either. It was a shade of cool melon that made her golden hair shine and her lightly sun-kissed skin glow.

He came to a stop in front of her and his lips kicked up just a tiny fraction more as he asked, "Would you like the grand tour?"

She giggled. "Are you kidding? This place is so big I could probably spend a week wandering around and still never see it all. I'd probably get lost."

He chuckled slightly. "It's not quite that big. Come on."

He took her by the hand and began leading her through the rooms on the ground floor. She saw the massive entertainment room and the formal living room and dining room. They came across Lita squealing like a kid on Christmas morning when they entered the kitchen. She was completely entranced by the restaurant quality appliances and the long granite countertops.

He then took her down one hallway and showed her the enormous home gym. There was an exercise room complete with weights and just about every work out machine imaginable as well as a large open area for sparring. There was even a sauna and a hot tub.

They found Jadeite working up a sweat as he put one of the weight lifting machines through its paces. He stopped and grinned as they came in. "What's up?"

"I thought you were sleeping?" Kunzite replied. "I figured that you would be in bed until late this afternoon since you didn't come dragging in until after sunrise this morning."

Jadeite shrugged. "I squeezed in a few hours. I figured I'd do a few reps before I shower and head back to the shrine to check on Raye. I've gotta stay in shape for the ladies after all."

Mina laughed as the blonde jokester flexed a bicep and winked outrageously at her. "Raye is doing much better today. The girls and I just left from there before we came here. Amy did change her medicine because the other stuff was making her loopy, but she was lounging on the couch watching TV when we left and didn't seem to be running a fever. So I think she's on the mend. She even said something about craving for a milkshake from the arcade, so I may have to go by and get one to take to her."

Jadeite jumped up with a grin. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. You lovebirds just enjoy your day." He almost ran from the room.

Mina shook her head and sighed. "Poor guy! He's trying so hard to win her over."

Kunzite snorted. "I think he's trying too hard. I told him that I thought it might do some good if he backed off a bit. You know, use a little reverse psychology on Raye. I was thinking that if he acted like he was no longer concerned about her as a love interest that it may have an opposite effect on her. She acts like she resents Jadeite when he's chasing after her, but if he were to stop and act like he is moving on with his life it would probably drive her mad."

"You just might have something there," Mina replied as she pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I never knew you had such a devious side to you."

"I'm not being devious. I'm just being smart," he retorted. "I have to live with Jadeite and listen to his bellyaching over how stubborn Raye is, so I'm just trying to figure out the quickest and easiest way to get the two of them together so I don't have to hear it."

She wagged a finger in his face. "Uh, uh, uh! You forget who you're talking to. I am the goddess of love, remember, and I know exactly what a matchmaking scheme looks like when I see one. You're trying to play Cupid!"

He snapped his teeth at her finger, making her squeal. "I am not playing Cupid! I'm just trying my best to get everything situated so that things can calm down. It's hard to try to enjoy a new life when there's a lot of commotion going on. Now did you want to continue the tour?"

She nodded her head and followed after him. They went back to the main entrance and then went down the second hall, which held a large bathroom, a media room that was full of all kinds of electronic gizmos, and the study/library that looked big and impressive to her despite what Zoicite had said earlier. It was there that they found the dark blonde general locked in a heated debate with Amy as they argued over who their favorite classic author was.

"Ugh! Nerd alert!" Mina giggled in a whisper to Kunzite. "Let's get out of here before it rubs off on us."

He chuckled and took her hand. In no time at all they were back in the entry hall again. He glanced at the stairs before asking her uncertainly, "Would you like to see the upstairs?"

Mina's mouth went dry. She had managed to not find herself alone in an intimate setting with Kunzite since the night of their first date when they had almost mauled each other. They had been alone in his car on several occasions and they had kissed quite a few times, but for the most part they had stayed in public places with other people around them. He would walk her to her door at night and give her a sweet kiss goodnight, but that was it. Now he was offering to show her his bedroom.

'_Get a grip, girl! You can be mature about this,' _she chastised herself. She fixed a bright smile on her face. "Sure! I would love to see what's upstairs, especially if it's as fabulous as the rest of this place. It's absolutely breathtaking."

He answered her smile with one of his becoming more frequent grins and led her up the stairs. When they reached the landing he told her, "We each have our own wing with our own personal suite and a few guest rooms. This one is mine."

As they walked down the hall she poked her head in a few doors. She saw two tastefully furnished bedrooms and a bathroom that looked like they had come straight from the pages of a magazine, but she could tell that they were guest rooms because there was nothing personal about them that made them appear as if they belonged to someone.

Kunzite came to a stop in front of a set of double doors made out of lightly stained oak. "This is my suite," he announced, and pushed the doors wide.

Mina gasped in wonder as she took in the sitting room. She walked in and spun in a circle as she gazed around. "Great Aphrodite! I feel like I'm back on Venus, or at least back in my old rooms in the moon castle. The color scheme is exactly the same."

He chuckled. "I know. I thought the same thing the first time I saw it."

"This is incredible!" she squealed as she plopped down on a couch covered in fabric of rich, rusty orange. The copper colored throw pillows matched the walls and complimented an area rug that had colors ranging from the darkest burnt orange to the faint orange of a morning sunrise. It was also accented by varying shades of copper and gold.

Mina bounced in her seat. "I think the furniture we have now is more comfortable than what we had in the Silver Millennium. And we definitely didn't have that." She pointed to a large, dark brown entertainment center that held what appeared to be an entire home theater system. The massive flat screen TV alone would be enough to make you feel like you were at the movies.

Kunzite smirked. "What can I say? I know we weren't exactly cavemen in the past, but the technology of this time has me intrigued. I must admit that I've developed a fondness for action movies."

"Of course you have!" she quipped with a roll of her eyes. "After being a general and fighting as many battles as you have I couldn't imagine you not liking movies where people are fighting and things are blowing up every minute. I guess I've become desensitized to the whole movie magic thing after actually working in the business. What movies do you have?"

She walked over to a shelf and began perusing the DVDs. There were several hard hitting, blockbuster action movies with a few comedies surprisingly thrown into the mix. But then a pink box caught her eye and she pulled it out. Her mouth fell open in shock when she found herself holding a box set of the Sailor V movie trilogy that she had filmed back in her early teens. She looked at him questioningly.

He shrugged. "I was curious. You were very good in them, but I must admit that I find Sailor Venus a much better heroine than Sailor V."

"I can't believe you watched those," she muttered as she replaced the box on the shelf. She looked around for something to change the subject and saw an open doorway. "So what's in here?" she asked as she strode toward it.

She paused as she saw a large bedroom decorated in the same rich color scheme as the sitting room. There were several pieces of dark wood furniture and the copper colored comforter that was spread across the huge king sized bed looked so light and fluffy that she bet laying on it would feel like floating on a cloud. Not that she had any intentions of finding out if that were true…at least not yet.

She laughed as she shook her head. "Honestly! Are you sure this is your bedroom? This looks more like something that I would come up with more than you."

His deep chuckle rumbled. "I know! I thought the exact same thing when I saw it. I even entertained the idea that perhaps your future self may have helped my future self with the design. You always seem to have exquisite taste."

Mina felt a warm blush creep up her neck as she saw his eyes sweep up and down the length of her, from the customary red bow holding her hair back from her face to the delicate white sandals on her feet where her gold polished toenails peeked out. She giggled lightly. "Maybe I did help out a little. And if I didn't my sincerest praise goes to whoever did. These rooms are beautiful."

She began backing away from the bedroom door and back into the sitting room. The surroundings suddenly felt much too intimate for her to be alone with him and her overactive imagination was speeding away at 100mph. It was probably a good idea for them to get out of there and back around some other people before something happened. Like Kunzite had pointed out the night of their first date, there was something highly combustible between them that always seemed to be on the verge of flying out of control.

Kunzite's gray eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her movements. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wide and slightly dilated. Her breathing was heavier than normal and a little uneven, and he was sure that if he were to place a hand on her chest that her heart would be pounding a fast rhythm. But he wasn't surprised at her reaction. After all, she was a descendant of Aphrodite. Desire and passion flowed through her veins as easily as blood, just as it had in her former incarnation.

He felt his own lust rising up inside him like a snarling animal. He fought it down with his impeccable iron control, but it was hard. He was a normal, young, red-blooded man who was alone with a beautiful woman who held his heart in her slender, long fingered hands. Part of him wanted nothing more than to carry her to his bed and make love to her over and over until they were both spent and delirious with pleasure, but his mature, responsible side scolded him and warned him to take it easy. They had plenty of time.

"What do say to getting some lunch?" he asked casually.

Her expression melted into a look of genuine happiness. "Sounds good. I slept in later than I meant to and had to rush to meet Amy and Lita, so I didn't have time for breakfast. I'm starving."

He bowed slightly and gestured to the door. "After you, milady."

She laughed and strolled from the room as gracefully as the princess she had once been. He joined her and they walked companionably, side by side, down the wing toward the central landing.

When they had almost reached the top of the stairs and they could hear Lita, Nephrite, Amy, and Zoicite's voices from below, Kunzite figured that it was safe enough to steal one tiny kiss from his goddess. He stopped and wound an arm around Mina's waist before tugging her lightly toward him.

The pull took Mina by surprise, and she stumbled as she fell against him, her hands splaying against his wide, firm chest. A breathy little gasp escaped her before she giggled. "Why general, what was that for?"

He smirked down at her astonished face. "I just wanted one last moment alone with you before we go down."

And then his lips were firmly over hers.

* * *

Amy sighed happily as she replaced the book she was holding on the shelf. She gazed around, still slightly in awe at her surroundings. "This is absolutely incredible! I always thought that I had a decent collection of books, but this puts my one wall of bookshelves to shame. I think you have a little bit of everything in here."

Zoicite chuckled as he leaned against the edge of a large worktable. "It's a fair assortment. We have fiction and non-fiction, classics and recent bestsellers. There's even one whole section on astronomy that Nephrite has practically drooled all over. Kunzite doesn't come in here much, but Jed has discovered a secret passion for mystery novels. Of course he's bad about skipping to the end to find out what happens, so I can't say that he's getting much from them."

Amy giggled. "That sounds like him. He and Raye are both so impatient. It's no wonder that they keep butting heads the way they do." She began backing down the sliding ladder she had been standing on so that she could reach the upper shelves.

Zoicite was behind her in a flash. "Careful," he cautioned as he reached up to steady her.

The feel of his hands at her waist startled her and her foot slipped on a step. A surprised squeak left her as she tumbled down…right into Zoicite's waiting arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked anxiously as he held her bridal style against his chest.

She clutched instinctively at his shoulders and sucked in a shaky breath. "Yes. I guess it was a good thing that you were here to catch me. Hitting the floor probably would have left a bruise or two."

He laughed at her words. "Just call me your own personal superhero, waiting on the sidelines to swoop in and snatch you out of danger's path."

Amy blushed as she felt his chest rumble under her arm and she realized just how close he was holding her. No wonder Serena had always gone a little starry-eyed whenever Tuxedo Mask had charged into the middle of a battle to save her. There was something very personal and intimate about being held like this.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zoicite asked as he saw her face turn pink and she glanced away shyly. He turned and sat her on the table.

She felt a little pang when he let her go, but she was thrilled when he didn't pull away from her completely. He stayed in front of her and leaned forward, placing both hands on the table on either side of her hips. She nodded. "I'm fine, Zoi, really."

He looked relieved. "Good! I was afraid that you might have twisted a knee or an ankle. I know you heal fast because of your scout powers, but I don't want to see you get hurt."

Amy giggled. "Once a doctor, always a doctor. That reminds me. Have you heard anything from the hospital yet?"

Zoicite nodded. "Yes. The chief of staff called me and we set up an appointment to meet and talk. It sounds very promising."

Her blue eyes widened. "Wow! He must have been impressed by your information. Usually when a new doctor applies he let's one of the senior doctors do the initial interview and then goes by their opinion. If someone sounds promising then he calls them in for a face to face meeting."

He suddenly looked a little sheepish. "Your mother's name was mentioned, so I think she may have had something to do with it."

Amy pealed a laugh. "That little sneak! She probably did. But even with all the pull that mom has around there; you'll still have to impress the chief yourself. But if you're half the doctor that you were in the past I know that you'll do just fine. You were always very good at what you do, and I know that I wouldn't want anyone else taking care of me if I were sick or hurt."

He chuckled and shook his head. "What about your mother? I'm sure she could do a much better job than me."

She shrugged. "Oh I know that she could make me feel better, but at least if I had you around I would have someone handsome to look at. That alone would probably go a long way to speeding my recovery. Just wait until you start working at the hospital. The female patients will be all over you. Just ask Darien about it. He was doing a student rotation last semester, and he had this one girl that turned almost stalkerish after she saw him. She started hanging out around the hospital and the university a lot until Serena finally got fed up and set her straight."

A playful smirk appeared on his face. "Would you come to my rescue if I picked up a stalker?"

She blushed again and looked down as her shyness kicked in again and mumbled, "If you wanted me to."

He cupped her cheek in his palm and lifted her face back up toward his. Her pixie-like features sucked him right in. "Amy, you are the sweetest person in the world," he whispered before bending down and kissing her.

Amy head spun at the intensity of the kiss. Yeah, she and Zoicite had kissed several times now in the short time that they had been dating, but they were always short and chaste. But this…this was incredible! It certainly took her by surprise for a moment, but after the initial shock she began responding eagerly.

Zoicite bit back a groan as he felt her lips begin to move hesitantly under his. Up until now he had been taking things slowly with Amy. While he may have known her past incarnation very intimately, Amy was not Ami. This type of a relationship was new to her and he didn't want to scare her away. She was all sweetness and innocence, and he loved that about her, but at the same time he wanted to express the depth of his feelings for her.

Encouraged by her response to him, he slid the hand that was still cupping her cheek down until he was caressing her neck as he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her closer toward him. He felt her hands come up to his chest, and he anticipated her shoving him away, but he was surprised when her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. He decided to take it a little bit farther and opened his mouth to lick at her lips.

Amy gasped at the sensation of his tongue swiping across her lower lip. Instinctively her lips parted, and then his tongue was in her mouth, rubbing gently against hers. Her brain turned to mush. She had listened to the other girls talk about kissing and she had read about it in a few romance novels that she had read, but French kissing had always sounded a little disgusting to her. Boy had she been wrong! She would probably still think it was gross if this were anyone but Zoicite. But with him this felt absolutely right.

Zoicite was unable to hold back a moan this time when he felt her hands slide up over his shoulders so that her arms were around his neck and her fingers were playing with his wavy, dark blonde hair. His knees almost buckled when an echoing whimper from Amy reverberated in his mouth.

Sadly the need for air had them pulling apart slowly and he leaned his forehead against hers as he sucked in a deep breath. Her eyelids fluttered open to gaze at him with hazy blue orbs.

For one of the very few times in her life, logical thought completely deserted Amy. "Wow!" was all she could mumble.

"I don't think I could have put it any better myself," Zoicite agreed.

Amy blushed furiously, not only because of the enthusiastic way that she just reacted to Zoicite's kiss, but also because that kiss had unlocked a few more of Ami's hazy memories. One in particular made her breath catch in her throat. She could picture it clearly; a nighttime swim under a moon bright sky and the feeling of cool water swirling around bodies as the quiet earth general made gentle, yet passionate love to the Mercurian princess.

Zoicite saw the emotions flitting across her face and felt immediately contrite. He steeped back a little to put some space between them. "I'm sorry, Amy?" he apologized sincerely.

She blinked in surprise. "For what?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "For kissing you like that. I know this is all new to you. But you just looked so darn cute sitting there that I couldn't help myself."

Amy pushed her shyness aside and met his gaze levelly. "That's okay. I liked it."

"You…liked it?" he said slowly, trying to process her words.

She giggled. "Of course, silly! I may be a bit of a novice when it comes to relationships, but I'm not a child and I won't break if you kiss me. And I don't want you to hold your feelings back from me either. I want us to be completely open and honest with each other."

He smiled gently and stepped forward again to pull her into a hug. He buried his lips in her soft blue hair as he whispered, "I want that too, Amy."

* * *

"Hmm…" Lita mused as she surveyed the large walk-in pantry. "I'm impressed. I never figured a group of bachelors would be this well organized or well stocked, but this is almost like having your own miniature grocery store right here in your home."

Nephrite chuckled from the doorway. "I'm afraid I can't take any credit for it. With the exception of a few things that I've bought, the rest of this was already here when I arrived."

"Well it looks like a chef did your shopping," she commented as she checked a few items and found them to be the brands that she preferred herself. "Do you even know what you can do with all of this stuff?"

He grinned. "Some of it. I admit that my knowledge of cooking is very basic, but it's better than what the other guys can dish up. I've also discovered _The Food Network _to be very informative. That's why I love the fact that there is a TV in the kitchen. I've actually tried a couple of simple recipes that I've seen and they came out decent. At least I thought they did, and the guys ate it without any complaint. I like that Emeril guy. He seems to like spicy stuff."

"Oh my god! If you start saying _BAM! _I'll knock you upside the head so hard that you'll be seeing stars!" Lita muttered. Then she grinned. "But he has made a few things that I've found worthy of keeping the recipe for. That's why I keep a TV in my kitchen too. I love to try out new recipes. And the girls, Serena in particular, always volunteer to be my guinea pigs."

Nephrite gave her an indulgent smile. "You really love to cook, don't you?"

She shrugged. "It's in my genes. My parents were both chefs. They met when they were in culinary school and married not long after they graduated. They spent a few years working at a few different restaurants to get some experience and then decided to take the plunge and open their own place. It was an instant success. I remember when I was little I spent more time at the restaurant than I did at home. I practically grew up there. I would spend hours sitting in the kitchen and watching mom, dad, and the other cooks working and I never got tired of it. Sometimes they would even let me help by mixing things."

Nephrite watched the emotions playing across her face; the fondness of her memories of the time spent with her parents and then the sorrow she felt at the thought of their deaths.

"I was supposed to go with them," she said softly. "When mom and dad went to that convention in Paris they were going to take me with them. But then they decided that it was better if I stayed here. I was in my first year of middle school and they didn't think it was a good idea for me to miss a whole week of school."

Then she let out a bitter laugh. "Little did they know that I would be missing it anyway."

Nephrite straightened up from where he had been leaning against the doorframe. Lita and he had talked about a lot of things the last couple of days since they had gotten back on good terms with each other, but she had remained stubbornly tight-lipped about the subject of her parents. It seemed that she was finally opening up to him.

"They never made it to Paris?" he asked softly.

She turned around so that her back was toward him, but not before he saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes. She shook her head, and when she spoke her voice was thick from the effort to keep from crying. "No. The plane went down about two hours after take off and my whole life changed."

His heart ached for her. "Did you have no one to turn to?"

She nodded. "In the beginning I did. My dad had been raised in an orphanage, so he had no family. My mom never knew who her father was, and her mother was a bit of a party animal and died of a drug overdose when mom was five. Her grandmother took her in and raised her and then she took care of me after they died. But six months after I went to live with her she passed away. She was the last of my family. After that I was passed around through a series of foster homes. Nobody ever wanted to keep me for very long."

"Why not?" he prompted gently. Now that she had begun to tell her story he didn't want her to stop. He pictured her as a sad young girl with auburn curls and big green eyes and couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to reach out and hold her.

She shrugged. "Probably because I was such a little bitch. I grew angry with my life. I couldn't understand why I had been left behind while all of my family had been taken from me. I took my frustrations out on those around me. I picked fights with practically everyone and I was always in trouble at school. When I turned fifteen I petitioned the government for my emancipation, and since no foster home wanted me they gave it to me. The restaurant was sold, and between that money and the trust fund my parents left me I can live comfortably on my own. That ended up being the best thing for me. About two weeks after I moved into my apartment I got kicked out of the school I was going to for beating the shit out of some guy that wouldn't leave me alone. I was transferred to Juuban where I met Serena and the other girls, and the rest is history."

Nephrite walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Life is funny like that, isn't it? Fate works in mysterious ways to bring people to where they want them to be in life. I'm sorry for the pain you've had to endure, but I can't be sorry that you're here now."

She sniffled hard. "I've told myself that many times over the years. If my parents had lived, I may never have met Serena. If that had happened then Sailor Jupiter may have remained locked up inside of me forever. And I love being a sailor scout. It makes me feel like my life has a purpose to be able to help protect the planet. And the girls are like my sisters. They've given me back a feeling of family."

He moved his hands from her waist to her shoulders to turn her to face him. Her nose was a little red and her eyes were glassy. A couple of tears had broken free to roll down her cheeks. He smoothed them gently away with his thumbs. "I'm here for you too, Lita. I'll always be here for you."

A sound that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh burst from her throat as she threw her arms around his neck and warned him, "And it better stay that way, or I'll literally tear a chunk out of your ass."

He hugged her close for a long moment before dipping his head down and kissing her lips lightly. He was about to pull back when Lita sank a hand into his hair and deepened it. Their lips parted and her tongue came out to stroke boldly against his. He couldn't help but grin into the kiss. His warrior princess had always been the type to take what she wanted.

She pulled back from a minute later with a smile. "Well that sure was a deep moment! I've got an idea. Why don't we check with the others and see what they want to do for lunch? If everybody wants me to, I'll just whip up something here."

Nephrite smirked at her. "You just want an excuse to cook in my kitchen."

She waved a dismissive hand at him. "So what if I do? It's an awesome setup. It makes my kitchen at home look like a dump."

He chuckled. "Okay, we'll see what the others are up to."

Hand in hand they walked back into the entry hall, just in time to see Amy and Zoicite emerge from one of the back hallways.

Then a mischievous, singsong voice came from the upper level. "Kunzie and Mina sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"JEDEITE!" Kunzite roared as the blonde prankster came flying down the stairs. He smirked at the two couples that were looking at him questioningly.

"I wouldn't go up there if I were you," he warned them. "Things are getting pretty steamy if you know what I mean." Then he yelped and ducked as he dodged what looked to be a boomerang of light purple energy that was aimed for his head.

All eyes swung to the top of the stairs where an enraged head general stood glaring down at Jadeite. Mina was clinging to his arm.

"Kunzite stop!" she begged him. "You might actually hurt him."

Kunzite snorted. "I hope I do! The little prick has had it coming to him for weeks."

Jadeite gulped. "And that's my cue to leave." He scrambled out the door as quickly as he could.

Nephrite shook head. "I don't believe it! He actually did something smart for once."

Everyone else, even Kunzite, had to laugh at that.

* * *

Serena sighed in contentment. She was having the most delicious dream. She loved when she had dreams about the Silver Millennium that weren't nightmares about that last horrific day on the moon. They may have just been dreams conjured up by her overactive imagination, but she always liked to think of them as being actual memories of her past life, especially the ones about her prince.

Sometimes her dreams were hazy and hard to make sense out of, and sometimes they were vivid and clear. This dream in particular was coming in with stark crystal clarity.

_She lay on her stomach across the large bed in what she recognized as being her bedchamber in the moon castle. She and Endymion had just finished making love to each other, and the white satin sheets were a rumpled mess around her as she waited for her breathing and her heartbeat to return to normal._

_The mattress next to her shifted and she turned her head as her eyes flickered open to find a pair of dark ocean blue ones watching her intently. She frowned as she whispered, "You have to go now, don't you?"_

_Endymion rolled onto his side and propped his head up on a hand. "I'm afraid so, my love. I'm supposed to be here for diplomatic purposes. If someone were to find us together it could be disastrous. So it's probably best that I return to my own room for now."_

"_I hate this!" she muttered petulantly. "How much longer are we going to have to keep sneaking around? My mother and your parents know about us, and so do your generals and my scouts. It's not fair that we have to hide from everyone else."_

_He brushed his fingers down her cheek. "I know, sweetheart, but it won't be forever. One day we'll be able to stand up in front of the whole galaxy and proclaim our love for one another. Just keep believing in that."_

"_I will," she whispered. Then she raised her head to kiss him lightly on the lips._

_He growled low in his throat as she started to pull away and wrapped his arms around her waist to haul her body up flush against his. His lips were firm, yet gentle, as he kissed her fully, sweeping his tongue past her parted, swollen lips to explore the deepest recesses of her mouth._

_She gasped as his lips left hers to kiss a fiery trail down her neck. She arched her head back to give him better access and threaded her fingers through the midnight silk of his hair. Then she giggled softly. "I thought you had to go."_

_He pulled back just far enough to give her that cocky grin of his. "I decided that maybe I could stay a little while longer." He dipped his head back down again._

_His lips had just met hers when a light tapping sound came from the balcony doors and a voice hissed, "Endymion!"_

_The prince groaned miserably and then demanded quietly. "What is it, Jed?"_

_Jadeite's amused sounding voice answered, "I hate to intrude, especially when you're in the middle of trying to share a moment with your lady and all, but it will be morning soon and the servants will be stirring. So I think it's time for all naughty little boys to go back to their rooms. Kunzite would serve both of our asses to us on a platter if we got caught."_

_Serenity pressed her face to Endymion's shoulder to smother a laugh. Then she whispered, "That's not counting what Rei would do to him too."_

_Endymion chuckled._

"_I heard that!" Jadeite muttered. "I was trying very hard not to think about that. I love that woman to death, but damn! She's scary as hell when she's angry. But in this case I think I fear Kunzite more."_

"_Like he has any room to talk," Endymion grumbled as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed as he reached for his black pants. "He's the one that almost got busted coming out of Minako's room the last time we were here."_

_Jadeite cleared his throat. "Yeah, well he made me promise that I'd make sure that you made it back to your room before anyone was up and about or he'd reassign me to a field position permanently. Now I have no problem with fighting battles, but I do like having the luxury of living in the palace and sleeping in a real bed instead of on the ground. So get moving, your highness!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Endymion muttered as he pulled his black tunic over his head. Once he was dressed, he stood and bent back over the bed to press one last lingering kiss to his princess's lips. "I'll see you later." _

_She nodded. "Okay. I love you, Endy."_

"_I love you too, Sere," he said softly. And then he was gone, slipping through the fluttering curtains and disappearing like a thief in the night._

_She lay there for a moment, basking in the warm, loving afterglow of being with her prince until an unusual sound reached her ears. It sounded like a baby's cry. She sat up and reached for her nightdress…_

And then the dream faded away.

Serena came awake slowly to the feel of strong, sure fingers rubbing lazy circles across her back. She smiled and turned her head, her hair making a slight whispering sound as it slid across the black silk sheets she was laying on. She opened her eyes to find a pair of glittering sapphire orbs watching her.

"Good morning," she mumbled around a yawn as she stretched a little.

Darien chuckled softly. He was lying on his side with is head propped up on a hand just like Endymion had in her dream. "Good afternoon is more like it. Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby," she sighed as she scooted over to snuggle up close to him.

Her began stroking her hair. "No nightmares?"

"No nightmares," she confirmed a little defensively. She'd had the Galaxia nightmare again a few nights ago, much to her chagrin. It was the first time that she'd had it since that time after they had rescued the generals, but unfortunately she'd had it while she was sleeping in Darien's bed and he'd had to witness her whole moaning, crying fit until he'd managed to wake her up. So he'd been a little hovering and overprotective again since then, which was just a tiny bit irritating to her.

But her answer seemed to appease him because his smile grew and his eyes began to sparkle. "Good! Now you need to get yourself up and moving, lazybones! We can't spend all day laying in bed."

She groaned a protest and burrowed into his chest. "Why not? I don't have anything planned except to go by and check on Raye, and I can do that any time." Then she pulled back to look at him incredulously. "You're already dressed!"

He chuckled. "Sweetheart, I've been up for hours. I went for a jog, stopped and had coffee with Andrew, came back, showered, and watched the news. But it's going on 1:00, and I would like to spend some time with you today."

"Sometimes I swear you aren't human," Serena grumbled. "How can you possibly wake up so early and have so much energy after staying up as late as we did last night?"

He grinned slyly. "Years of practice. It was hard in the beginning when I had to start spending my nights chasing after a klutzy super heroine to try and keep her out of danger on top of all the studying I had to do. But after a while my body got used to it."

"Well mine didn't!" Serena pouted as she rolled away from him. "I value my sleep a lot, thank you very much. And I missed out on quite a bit of it last night because somebody couldn't keep his hands to himself."

He had the nerve to look smug. "I didn't hear you complaining about it at the time." When she just glared at him he sighed. "Fine! But it's a shame that all of that food I bought is going to go to waste."

Bingo! Those were the magic words. Serena rolled back over and her face was suddenly alive with interest. "Food? What food?"

Darien waved her off. "Never mind. You're too tired to care about it. Why don't you just roll over and get some more sleep. Maybe you'll be perked up enough by dinnertime and we can try again."

She went from cranky and sleepy to Christmas morning exited so fast that his head spun. In a blur of movement she was up on her knees bouncing excitedly. "I'm not really that tired! I could go for some food. What did you have planned?"

"Weeelll…" he drawled hesitantly. "If you really want to know…"

She jumped at him, knocking him onto his back as she scrambled on top of him. "I really want to know. I do! I do! I do! What wonderful thing do you have planned for us today?"

He laughed at her exuberance. "Okay, you talked me into it. I went down to that deli that we ate at a few weeks ago that you liked so much and had them put a picnic lunch together for us. And then I stopped at the French bakery and picked up dessert. I thought we could just enjoy a lazy day by the lake at the park. There's a nice breeze, so it's not too hot out."

Serena squealed in delight. "That sounds perfect! Can we rent a boat and go out on the water too?"

"If you want to," he replied nonchalantly. "Think of this as our day to celebrate your wonderful exam grades. And maybe tonight we'll go for pizza and see a movie and make a whole day out of it. So why don't you go grab a shower and we'll get going."

She gave him a quick kiss before rolling off of him and jumping off the bed to fly to the bathroom.

Within seconds he heard the water in the shower turn on and then Serena squeaking, "Cold! Cold! Cold!" That made him grin. His Meatball Head may have grown up some, but she still retained that childlike quality that he found adorable.

* * *

Raye was laying on the couch in the living room flipping through channels when she heard the door slide open. Figuring that it was just her grandpa or Chad passing through on the way to get a drink from the kitchen, she ignored it, until she felt someone standing behind the couch. Then she looked up.

"What are you doing here, Jadeite?" she rasped, wincing at the sound of her voice. She still had a bit of a sore throat, and it made her sound like a dying frog.

He flashed her an award-winning smile. "I said I'd be back to check on you. Besides, I come bearing gifts." He held up a take out cup from the Crown arcade. "I do believe the lady mentioned something about craving a milkshake."

She snorted. "The other girls told on me, huh?"

He chuckled. "Not exactly. Mina told me that you said something about it earlier, so I swung by and picked up one from Andrew on the way here. It was no big deal."

"Thanks," she said grudgingly as she sat up and accepted the milkshake from him. She almost moaned as the first cold sip slid down her aching throat.

Jadeite walked around the couch and sat on the other end near her feet. "So how are you feeling? You were still pretty out of it last night."

She took another sip before answering. "Better. I'm not running fever anymore and I can breathe through my nose again. If it wasn't for this sore throat and feeling like a car has run over me I'd probably be fine."

"Just give it another day or so. I'm sure you'll be back on your feet by then," he told her.

"I hope so," she growled. "I hate being down like this. I'm used to being up and doing things, not lying around like a lazy bum. I like working around here, and I miss doing things with the girls. I want to go swimming and shopping. It is my summer vacation after all."

He chuckled. "Patience, Pyro. Summer has barely begun. There's still plenty of it left and the pools and malls aren't going anywhere."

Raye did a double take. She couldn't remember him calling her Pyro since way back in the Silver Millennium before they had entered into a personal relationship. It was a common nickname that just about everybody called her and she didn't mind it. But from the moment that the golden haired general had set his eyes on her he had switched over to calling her the much more intimate nickname Firefly. He usually had a deeper, huskier tone of voice when he spoke to her, but this time he had kept his tone light and teasing, just like it would be if he were speaking to anyone else. It made her feel comfortable with him for some reason.

She settled back against the arm of the couch. "I didn't think I'd see you back here this soon after you sat up all night. What time did you finally leave anyway?"

He shrugged. "It was sometime right before dawn. I was able to run home and squeeze in a few hours of sleep. I wanted to make sure you were resting comfortably before I left. That medicine really did a number on you."

Her forehead creased in thought. "Yeah, I know. The last thing I remember is you making me soup and tea. After that everything is blank until I woke up this morning in bed."

Jadeite grinned. "Yeah, you were definitely feeling the meds. There for a minute I thought you were going to slide right off of your stool and melt into a puddle on the floor."

"How embarrassing!" Raye groaned. Then she looked a little apprehensive. "I didn't do or say anything weird, did I? I have been known to say some pretty far out there stuff when I take antihistamines. The girls swear I act drunk on them."

"_Jed. What would you do if I asked you to kiss me right now?"_

He fought back a grin at the memory of her reckless words to him and answered smoothly. "You didn't say anything. You just giggled a lot. You were asleep almost before your head touched the pillow."

Raye took a sip of her shake as she watched him through her lowered lashes. She was truly shocked at his words. Sure her thoughts from the night before were fuzzy, but she did remember him carrying her to bed and what she had said to him. She also remembered being extremely surprised that he hadn't taken advantage of her in her weak moment and tried to kiss her. But he had been a perfect gentleman, and he still was being one. She'd thought for sure that he would rub her words in her face, not act like it never happened to try and save her the embarrassment.

"So what are you watching?" he asked companionably after several seconds of silence.

"Nothing. I haven't been able to find anything worth watching." She tossed him the remote. "Here! Maybe you'll have better luck than I did."

He eyed her skeptically. "You don't mind my company?"

She settled back into her cocoon of blankets with what could only be described as a contented expression. "No. I don't mind."

* * *

"Oh! That was so much fun!" Serena sighed happily as she pushed pieces of her windblown hair away from her face.

Darien chuckled as he guided the rowboat to the dock and tied it up. "Yeah, it was. I think you got a little sunburned though."

She touched the tip of her pinkened nose with a grimace. "Just a little bit. I didn't think about putting sunscreen on before we left the apartment. But I can live with this. At least I didn't broil like a lobster. I hate to see what I would look like if we hadn't spent most of the afternoon sitting under a shade tree."

"True," Darien agreed. Then he looked toward the horizon. "The sun's going down now anyway, so why don't we gather up our stuff and head back to the apartment. We can relax for a few minutes and then change before we go back out. I do believe I promised someone pizza and a movie."

A brilliant smile lit up Serena's face. "That sounds great!" Then she giggled as Darien climbed out of the boat and up the short ladder to the dock before bending down to offer her a hand.

He looked at her in bemusement. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I was just having flashbacks to our first date."

He grinned as he recalled those memories as well. They had gone for a rowboat ride that day as well. "Do I still need to remind you to be careful and that the steps are slippery?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "No! I'm perfectly aware of that. I know that I'm still a little clumsy, but I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be."

She took his hand and carefully made her way up the steps. She was doing fine until she reached the last rung on the ladder, then her foot slipped. She pitched forward and crashed face first into Darien's firmly muscled chest.

She looked up sheepishly to find Darien biting his lip to keep from laughing. "Ooo! Not a peep out of you! I didn't do it on purpose!"

His voice was heavy with suppressed laughter. "I'm getting déjà vu. If you wanted to recreate our first date, why didn't you say so?"

She pounded a tiny fist against his chest. "That's not what I was doing, you jerk! My foot slipped! I can't help that."

He grinned down at her, his dark blue eyes dancing in amusement. "Now I believe comes the part where I'm supposed to give my princess a kiss."

"Don't be silly, Darien!" she said as she tried to pull away from him.

He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her toward him as his head swooped down and captured her lips in a slow, languid kiss that turned her bones to jelly. Her arms came up to wrap around his neck so that she could stay upright. After a minute she pulled back and glanced up at the sky.

"What are you looking for?" he asked softly as he nuzzled her cheek.

"Now I'm the one having déjà vu," she muttered. "If this were truly our first date all over again, then this would be the point where we have our skulls cracked open by a psychotic elementary schooler falling from the sky and landing on us."

Darien laughed lightly and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her even closer against him. "Well I never said that it would be a perfect reenactment. I didn't get a second kiss that day."

Serena batted her lashes innocently at him. "And what makes you think you're going to get one now?"

His grin turned positively evil. "Oh, it's just a feeling I have. You wouldn't deny your prince a kiss, would you princess?"

'_Damn those puppy dog eyes of his! They get me every time!' _Serena thought as she melted against him.

This time when his lips claimed hers they were firmer and more demanding. She had just opened up to give herself over completely to the sensations that he stirred up in her when a gagging sound broke through her reverie.

"Oh my god! Can you two not go more than five minutes without groping each other? Honestly! Get a room before you scar all the little kids running around for life with your PDAs!" an irritated voice snapped.

Serena and Darien pulled apart and stared into each other's eye in shocked disbelief for a moment before they turned their heads to look at the girl that was standing at the end of the dock and watching them in disgust.

She looked to be in her early teens and was almost as tall as Serena. She wore a pair of cutoff shorts and a bright pink tank top with a pair of pink flip-flops. A pink backpack decorated with bunnies and crescent moons was slung over one shoulder and her bubble gum colored hair fell to her waist in pigtails from the twin buns of hair on top of her head. Her large maroon eyes studied them with a mixture of disgust and happiness.

"Rini!" Serena and Darien both gasped in shock.

A mischievous smile appeared on the other girl's face. "Surprise!" she squealed, and then ran to them to throw her arms around both of them in a giant hug.

* * *

**A/N **Oh no! It's the attack of the future daughter! So much for a romantic evening for Serena and Darien. But it looks like the others are getting along just fine. Raye is even being sociable to Jadeite. They're not back together yet, but it's coming. Okay, so there's still quite a few things left to be covered before this story ends, the biggest one of all will be Darien's decision on what to do about Harvard and how Serena takes his announcement. More fireworks are sure to explode before all is said and done. Now I'm off to give some TLC to my other stories so I can try to get them updated as well. Reviews are very much appreciated, as always, so please feel free to let me know what you think. Later gators! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	13. Growing Up is Hard to Do

**A/N **Hey guys! Just a quick note here so I don't bore you too much. I just want to thank all of you that have left reviews and put this story on alert or faved it. We're up to 350+ reviews now, and I didn't imagine that when I started this since it's not really a scout based story and focuses more on their civilian lives without any enemies lurking around or fighting. So I'm as giddy as I can be with the response. In fact, let me get those hugs out so you can get on with it. BIG HUGS TO:

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**GoldenDragon326**

**x-YingYing-x**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**jade2nightwing**

**sabina21**

**saveme57**

**Angelstar14**

**BostonBill**

**(anonymous)**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**JuliaGulia17**

**KageNoNeko**

**unlockurdestiny**

**gots2luv**

**AyameRose**

**Seredhiel05**

**LadyRosalie29**

**rainbabie**

**S dot Serenity**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**Starrlight1812**

**Ebony Mitsu**

**Animegurl9871**

**sailorashes**

**LBricker88**

**insammity**

A kajillion thank yous to you all. You keep me motivated and moving on. Speaking of moving on, I'm going to let you move on. This is kind of just a fun, silly chapter, but there are one or two serious moments. Lots of little couple interactions, and of course we have the attack of the pink haired Serena Jr. going on as well. So I'm shutting up now!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 13

Growing Up is Hard to Do

* * *

"What do you think of this one, Rini? It's cute," Serena asked as she pulled a modest blue one-piece bathing suit from the rack. "Ooo, and look! It has a matching sarong to go with it."

When she didn't get an answer she looked up at the young teenage girl that was standing several feet away from her. The pink haired girl had a pair of earbuds in her ears and was nodding her head in time to whatever music she was listening to on her MP3 player as she stared off into space.

Serena shot an exasperated look over to Darien where he sat in a chair as he waited for the girls while they did their shopping. At her look he shrugged his shoulders. She rolled her eyes at his gesture and walked over to Rini to pull one of the earbuds out of her ears.

"Hey!" Rini squealed in outrage. "What are you doing? I was listening to that!"

Serena took a deep breath and bit back the sarcastic words that bloomed on the tip of her tongue. "I know you were, but we're supposed to be trying to find you a bathing suit right now. What do you think of this one?" She held up the one she was holding.

Rini's eyes narrowed. "What do you think I am, five years old? I may as well swim in my clothes if I wore that!"

Serena closed her eyes for a moment as her temper began simmering. After she had gotten over the initial shock of having her future daughter show up unexpectedly at the park the night before, she had been truly glad to see the girl. After a boisterous reunion between the young princess and the past forms of her parents, the three of them had decided to spend the evening at Darien's apartment with pizza and a movie while they played catch up. It had been a while since the three of them had visited together, so they sat up late into the night talking.

Rini had told them that she was on summer break from her studies and that her mother had suggested that she might want to spend some of her vacation in the past and have some fun, and she had jumped at the chance. She declared that being in Tokyo was a hundred times better than rattling around the palace and being bored all summer.

Serena had gotten excited and had started listing off all the fun things they could do together, the amusement park, the botanic gardens, the water park, swimming and cooking out at Mina's. The list went on and on.

Rini had been pumped up as well, and then her face had fallen. "Oh no!" she'd wailed, sounding a lot like Serena. "I forgot to bring my bathing suit with me!"

Serena had comforted her immediately and told her that it was a simple problem to fix. They had decided to spend the night at Darien's and hit the mall the next morning to find her a bathing suit.

But when Serena had gone in to wake up Rini this morning she had been met by a completely different person. Gone was the smiling, laughing girl from the night before. In her place was a sullen, moody adolescent. Rini had stumbled from the bed to the shower, grumbling incoherently under her breath the entire time. Her dark mood hadn't improved any when she came into the kitchen for breakfast. She'd simply sat quietly while she had inhaled the plate of food Darien had set in front of her. After that she had stomped behind them down to the parking garage and gotten into the backseat of Darien's car where she had promptly stuck the earbuds in her ears and ignored the two of them as she stared almost angrily out the window.

So far that was the way that their morning had gone. They were already in their fifth store, and Rini had yet to find a bathing suit that she liked. Actually, she was barely looking at them. Serena did all the browsing while she stood around looking like she was pissed at the world and listened to whatever music she was piping into her ears. The only time she ever said anything was to shoot down the bathing suits that Serena held up for her inspection.

Serena was close to the end of her rope. That had to be at least the hundredth suit that she had picked out and Rini had rejected. She hung it back up and turned back toward the brooding girl with her hands on her hips. "Okay. Then why don't you try looking through them and see if you can find something you like, because obviously I have no idea what style you want."

"Whatever!" Rini growled and put the earbud back in her ear before walking away to another rack where she began flipping carelessly through the suits.

"Well excuse me for living and breathing!" Serena muttered under her breath.

A chuckle brushed her ear as Darien came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Our little princess doesn't seem to be in a very good mood today, does she?"

She blew out a sigh. "I wonder if this is her normal behavior. If it is I can see why Neo Queen Serenity sent her here. It's probably just as much a vacation for her as it is for Rini."

"It's because of her age," he told her. "She's stuck in that in between phase right now. She's not a child anymore, but she's not quite a young adult yet. It's a confusing time in a person's life, and some people have a harder time handling it than others. Don't you remember your preteen and early teen years?"

"I never acted like that!" she protested. "If I had snapped at my mom and ignored her the way Rini's been doing she would have blistered my butt!"

"Hey, Serena! I think I found one!" Rini's voice piped up, sounding brighter than it had all morning.

Serena visibly relaxed and a smile appeared on her face. "Really! What did you find?"

Her smile turned brittle a second later when Rini held up a vivid purple bikini. It was way skimpier than the black one she had bought recently. Actually, it was barely more than a few scraps of fabric.

She pushed Darien back toward the chair he had been sitting in when his eyes bulged and his face turned almost the same shade of purple as the practically nonexistent bathing suit. "Calm down! I'll take care of it," she whispered frantically to him.

She bustled over to the younger girl and took the suit from her hands. "Ah, sweetie, I think this was made for more mature women. Even I don't have the kind of figure to pull that off. Let's see if we can find something a little more flattering for you."

Rini crossed her arms and scowled. "I don't want something that's going to make me look like a baby! I'm too old for ruffles, flowers, and cartoon characters! I'm almost fourteen for god's sake! I want to look my age, not like a stupid little girl!"

"Okay, okay!" Serena soothed her. She looked her future daughter over carefully and could see where she was coming from. Rini's body was beginning to blossom into that of a young woman. Her face had lost some of its childhood roundness and her arms and legs had lengthened. She had also grown a few inches taller, giving her a willowy look. Her hips were still flat, but her chest had matured to the point where she wore a bra, but it was only an A cup. The poor thing really was in an in between stage.

Then her eyes landed on a rack farther back in the store and her expression brightened. "Come on! I've got an idea!" She grabbed Rini by the hand and pulled her behind her to the section of the store that held mix and match separates.

It took them about fifteen minutes of digging, but they finally came up with a combination that Rini was pleased with. The top was a tank style that was striped with blue, red, orange, green, purple, and yellow. It was modest, but it was short enough to bare most of her abdomen. She paired it with a pair of boy short style bottoms in bright blue.

"So do we have a winner?" Serena teased.

Rini grinned and nodded. She had only held up the purple bikini as a shock factor, hoping to steer Serena away from the overly concealing one-piece bathing suits she had been looking at. But she had never thought that she would actually talk her into letting her get one that was a two-piece. All her mother would ever let her buy were bathing suits that either a little kid or a grandma would wear. So she was pleased with the compromise.

Darien stood as they approached him after paying for the purchase. "Are you done?" he asked with a smile.

Rini beamed an answering smile at him as she clutched the bag tightly in her hand. "Yep! Now I can't wait to wear it. Can we go swimming today?"

Serena laughed. "I'll call Mina later and ask her. It shouldn't be a problem though. We pretty much have an open invitation to use the pool any time we want."

"Sweet!" Rini crowed. "And maybe the other girls can come with us. I haven't seen everybody in such a long time. I just wish Hotaru were here."

"She should be back in a few days," Serena consoled her. "The last time I spoke to Amara she said that they were coming back from their trip this week."

"Ooo, goody!" Darien mumbled sarcastically under his breath. Personally he wished that the outer scouts would never come back. It was nothing against Michelle or Hotaru; he liked both of them well enough, but Amara…he shuddered.

The tall, shorthaired blonde woman had the personality of a rabid dog protecting a bone with a temper to match it, especially when it came to protecting Serena from what she perceived as a threat. She also thought that all men were basically scum, so that hadn't exactly endeared the reincarnated prince to her at all. In her perfect world she would keep Serena locked up safely and never let him or any other man within a half-mile radius of her. But she also adored Rini and knew that in order for the young princess to exist that Serena and Darien had to be together, so she tried to keep her grumblings about their relationship down to a minimum.

In fact, Darien had been surprised to learn that Amara had actually been one of his staunchest supporters while his star seed had been held by Galaxia. When she had been afraid that Serena and Seiya had been getting too close she had stepped in and tried to keep them apart as much as possible. Of course it had only been friendship on Serena's part, it was just in her nature to reach out to just about everyone she came in contact with, but the visiting sailor scout had definitely had more than friendship in mind where Serena was concerned and Amara had acted as a buffer between them; for which Darien was extremely grateful for. Sometimes Serena was just too sweet and naïve for her own good.

But this didn't change the fact that Amara was liable to hit the roof when she discovered that the generals were back on the scene and that they were on friendly terms with the inner scouts. Oh yeah, things could get ugly really quick.

"Darien," Rini's voice piped up. "Can we go to the arcade for lunch? I want a milkshake and I feel like I haven't seen Andrew, at least the Andrew from this time, in forever."

"Ooo, a milkshake does sound good," Serena sighed reverently as she turned puppy dog eyes on her boyfriend. "Can we please, please, please?"

He held his hands up and chuckled. "Okay, okay! You win! I can't take on both of you at once."

"Yay!" they cheered together and then they each grabbed one of his arms to practically drag him toward the parking lot.

* * *

"Damn it!" Lita yelled as she quickly set down the watering can that she was using to water her plants and ran toward her kitchen where her smoke detector was blaring furiously. She waved a dishtowel in front of it to try and shut it up, but in the end she pulled it from the wall and yanked the batteries out.

Then she crossed to her oven and opened the door, coughing as a fresh cloud of smoke wafted out of it. She glared at the baking sheet on the rack that now held a dozen charred, black circles that were supposed to be cookies.

She grabbed an oven mitt and pulled the pan from the oven and tossed it into the sink as she kicked the oven door closed with her foot. Then she twisted on the faucet and listened to the hiss as steam rose from the hot pan.

When she heard a knock on her door she growled low in her throat. More than likely it was that busybody old lady that lived next door to her wanting to know why her smoke alarm had been going off, and she really wasn't in the mood to smile and be polite to the old woman.

She started to ignore the knock, but then thought better of it. If it was her old neighbor and she didn't answer the old lady was liable to call the fire department and tell them that her apartment was on fire. Besides, maybe it wasn't her after all. It could be one of the girls dropping by for a visit. It would be nice to have someone come by right about now to help cheer up her rapidly darkening mood.

She flung open the door without bothering to check the peephole first to see who it was. She automatically lowered her head a few inches out of habit since all of her friends were shorter than her, and all she saw was a broad, masculine chest.

"Were you expecting someone shorter?" an amused voice chuckled.

Her emerald green eyes flew up to collide with twinkling slate blue ones. "Nephrite!" she exclaimed before flinging herself at him and hugging him tightly around the waist. "I'm so glad you're here!"

He shook with laughter. "I can tell. I was hoping that you would be happy to see me, but this exceeds even my expectations."

She pulled back and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't you dare make fun of me right now! I'm in the middle of a crisis!"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! What seems to be the problem?"

She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into her apartment. He wrinkled his nose at the smell.

"Did you decide to start a bonfire inside?" he asked.

"No, I didn't!" she shrieked. "My stupid oven is on the fritz again and it burned a batch of cookies. It really pisses me off too because it was a new recipe that I was dying to try. I had to make up the dough yesterday and let it refrigerate overnight and now I can't even bake them."

Nephrite's brow furrowed. "I thought you had the maintenance man come fix your oven last week."

Lita snorted. "I thought I did too! But evidently the jackass was so busy trying to get a glimpse down my shirt that he screwed something up. Now it's worse than before!"

She looked so miserable that he couldn't help but pull her into his arms and kiss the top of her head. "How about I ask Jed to come over and take a look at it? Believe it or not the little shit has a knack when it comes to fixing things. I bet he can get you back in business."

"Really?" she asked, looking up hopefully. "That would be great!"

He grinned. "I'll give him a call in a little bit. He was heading up to the shrine to check on Raye."

"I don't envy him," she giggled. "I talked to Raye earlier and she was pissed. She told me that she's feeling much better today and wanted to go outside for some fresh air, but her grandpa and Chad threatened to tie her to the bed if she didn't take another day to rest. I wouldn't go near that shrine right now for all the money in the world. World War 3 is probably happening up there even as we speak."

"That's Jed's problem," he replied with a shrug. "In the meantime, I happen to know of a kitchen that is equipped with double ovens if you need them to finish your cookies."

Lita arched a brow. "Are you trying to bribe me, general?"

He chuckled. "I wouldn't use the word 'bribe' exactly. I prefer to think of it as offering you an alternative."

A mischievous smile appeared on her face. "Nah! The cookie dough will keep. Now that you're here I have something else in mind."

"Oh really! And what might that be?" he teased back.

"You'll see," she replied mysteriously. "It's something that I haven't done in a while. Is your schedule free this afternoon?"

"For you, it's wide open," he said huskily as he dipped his head down and kissed her.

Lita melted against him instantly. Good god that man could kiss! She had been kissed by others before, but none of them were able to turn her brain to mush the way he did. She could spend all day in his arms tasting those delectable lips. And that was saying something since she'd never been a big fan of kissing before, at least not until he had come along.

But she had other plans for today. So after indulging in the dizzying sensations he gave her for a few more seconds, she reluctantly pulled away from him.

"So are you ready for some real fun?" she asked coyly.

He grinned. "Lead on, my lady."

* * *

Raye slid open her bedroom door and growled at the sight of the two men sitting on the porch nearby. They were worse than a couple of junkyard dogs.

Her grandfather raised his head at her irritated sound. "Did you need something, Sweetpea?"

She glared at him. "What I need is to get out of here for a while! I've been cooped up for the last couple of days and it's driving me crazy! I feel almost normal now, so why can't I go out? I need to see people. I want to breathe in some fresh air and soak up some sunshine. I'm vitamin D deficient by now, I just know I am."

The tiny old man crossed his arms. "Maybe tomorrow you can go out. You need to take today and rest some more. That was a nasty cold you had, and you don't want to overdo things too soon."

"But I'm fine!" she wailed in a Serena-like tone as she stomped her foot. She turned pleading eyes on the young man next to her grandfather. "Come on, Chad! Help me out a little. You know I can't stand being closed up inside four walls. I'm going to start pulling my hair out any second."

Chad looked back and forth between the stubborn old man and his strong willed granddaughter. Then he shook his head. "Sorry, Raye. I'm a pacifist. I know better than to get caught up in your family squabbles."

"Coward!" she hissed menacingly. "You better guard that favorite guitar of yours with your life, because the next time I see it it's going up in smoke."

Then she heard that sardonic chuckle that was fast becoming part of her daily life. "Now, now, Pyro. Are you going around threatening people? You really must be feeling better."

She glared at Jadeite as he hopped up onto the porch. He was the picture of perfect health; sun-bronzed skin, wind tousled golden curls, and sparkling blue eyes that made her think of cool water.

"I guess you're here to act as another warden for me," she snarled. "You know, all of this overbearing testosterone around here is really starting to piss me off!"

That cocky grin of his quirked up one side of his mouth. "Now is that any way to talk to your rescuer?"

Her eyes narrowed. "My rescuer? Have you developed a drug addiction that I need to know about?"

He walked past her, whispering out of the corner of his mouth, "Just watch the master at work."

He bowed in front of her grandfather. "Mr. Hino, I know that Raye has been very sick, but now that she seems to be on the road to recovery I believe it may do her some good to get out a little bit. So I was wondering if you would allow me to escort her on an outing. I promise to keep a close eye on her and not let her overdo things."

Grandpa stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well…I suppose that it would be okay, just for a little while. But I'm entrusting her welfare to you, young man."

Raye's mouth fell open. She had been begging for hours just to be allowed to come outside and walk around the grounds. And then Jadeite shows up and with just a few words he got her grandpa to agree to let her go out. Had the whole world gone mad?

Jadeite straightened up with a broad smile on his face. "Thank you, sir. I promise that she will be in good hands." He turned to Raye and his eyes glittered challengingly. "Well, are you coming?"

A huge part of her wanted to tell him to go to the devil. But he was offering her an escape, and she would be the world's biggest fool if she turned him down. "Sure. Just give me a minute."

"But…but…" Chad sputtered. "You said that you would never go anywhere with him."

She tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder. "I'd run off with Satan himself right now if it gave me the chance to get out of here for a while." Then she flounced into her room and slid the door shut.

She quickly shed the frumpy t-shirt and shorts she had been lounging around in and shimmied into her bathing suit. She was hoping to make it over to Mina's so that she could lie by the pool and soak up some rays. She pulled a tank top and a pair of cut-offs on over it and then tackled her hair, twisting the inky black strands into a messy knot before wrapping a red scrunchie around it.

She was in the process of applying a layer of lip-gloss when she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror. What was she doing? She didn't need makeup to go sunbathe. And she sure as hell wasn't putting it on because of Jadeite! She was just using him as a means of escape and would probably ditch him as soon as they were out of her grandpa's sight.

Disgusted with herself, she threw the tube down and grabbed a pair of sandals that she quickly slipped on. She growled when she caught herself checking her reflection one more time and hurried for the door.

"Let's go!" she said briskly as she strode by Jadeite.

"Have fun!" Grandpa called out as he watched the blonde man hurry after Raye. Then he sat back with a satisfied smile.

Chad chuckled. "You wily old matchmaker! You had this planned from the beginning, didn't you?"

The old priest's smile widened. "I didn't plan it exactly. But I had a feeling that nice young man would be by today, and Raye's been chomping at the bit to get out so badly that I figured she'd jump at the chance if he offered to take her out."

Chad whistled softly. "I never knew you had such a devious side. I bet you could give Mina a run for her money."

When Raye and Jadeite reached the bottom of the long stairway that led up to the shrine, she turned to him with a grateful smile. "Thanks for getting me out of there. I thought I was going to go bonkers being cooped up like that."

He inclined his head to her. "It was my pleasure."

She was mortified to feel her cheeks heat up, so she turned away quickly. "Well, I guess I'll see you around. Thanks again."

"Wait a minute!" Jadeite exclaimed, grabbing her wrist. "Where do you think you're going?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have any definite plans. I thought I might head to Mina's if she's there and hang by the pool. Or I might wander over to the park and chill by the lake. I just want to soak in the great outdoors for a while."

Jadeite shook his head. "You can't go by yourself. I gave your grandfather my oath as a gentleman that I would watch out for you today."

She snorted. "Ha! Then it's a good thing that nobody would actually make the mistake of considering you a gentleman, isn't it?"

For once he didn't seem amused by her sarcastic comment. "I know I'm not as refined as Darien, as commanding as Kunzite, as composed as Nephrite, or as collected as Zoicite, but I am a gentleman and I do have honor. And as a gentleman, I am honor bound to keep my promise to your grandfather. So I'm afraid that you're stuck with me for the day."

"Okay, okay!" Raye exclaimed, a little alarmed at his change in demeanor. "Geez! I didn't mean to rub you the wrong way. I'm sorry."

Humor suddenly sparked back into his eyes. "You can rub me any way you want to." Then he smacked himself on the forehead. "Sorry! I didn't mean to say that. I swore that I was going to keep my perverted comments to myself. It just slipped out. Please don't fry me!"

Instead of getting upset at his off color remark, she found herself being amused by his antics. Before she could check her laughter, it bubbled past her lips. In just a few seconds she was doubled over, clutching her stomach, as she indulged in a good long laugh.

Jadeite looked confused. "What's so funny?"

"You are!" Raye gasped as she straightened up and wiped a couple of tears from her eyes. "I don't think I've ever met a more ridiculous person in my life."

He scratched his head in bewilderment. "I think I've just been insulted."

She waved a hand at him. "Okay then, Mr. Gentleman, you do whatever you want to. If you want to follow me around, then be my guest. Far be it from me to stand in the way of your honor. But I'm warning you now, you're going to get bored."

'_That would be impossible with her around,' _he thought to himself. Then a devilish gleam lit up his eyes. "I just got a great idea!"

Raye took a step back. "Uh oh! I don't think I like the sound of that. What have you got cooking in that brain of yours now?"

He gripped both of her hands tightly in his. "How much better are you really feeling?"

"I'm…fine…why?" she asked hesitantly.

"Because what I'm thinking might be a little…physical," he wagged his eyebrows.

"What happened to keeping the perverted comments to yourself?" she grumbled.

He grinned wolfishly. "I decided to be a rebel instead. So what do you say? Are you in?"

She tried to pull her hands away, but he held tight. "I don't know, Jed…"

"Oh, come on!" he pleaded. "I need a partner in crime. Unless you're too scared."

Well she couldn't pass up that challenge. "Of course I'm not scared! Remember who you're talking to here! Fine! I'm in! But whatever you have planned, this is not a date, okay."

"Of course not!" he said placatingly as he began pulling her along the sidewalk.

Raye gasped when they stopped beside a gorgeous, sleek, black Ferrari. "No way! This can so not be your car!"

He ran a hand lovingly across the fender, just above the custom painted flames. "She sure is. Hop in!"

She slid into the passenger seat as he held the door open for her. "Um…you do know how to drive this thing…don't you?" she asked as he got in behind the wheel.

He gave her a boyish grin as he pulled a pair of dark sunglasses from the visor and put them on. "Just trust me," he drawled smoothly and keyed the ignition.

The engine roared to life, snarling like a hungry animal. He pressed a button on the stereo, and AC/DC's Back in Black began blaring as he shifted the car into first gear and pealed away from the curb.

Raye screamed. "You moronic jackass! Are trying to get us killed!"

Jadeite merely laughed.

* * *

Amy reached blindly for another slice of apple, not tearing her gaze from the book she was reading, and bit into the crunchy sweetness. She knew her friends would roll their eyes at her for sitting around with her head in a book on such a beautiful summer day, but at least she was reading for fun and not for school this time.

Her eyebrows shot up and a squeak escaped her as she reached an exciting part of the story. She was so wrapped up that she almost didn't hear the knock on the door. She sighed and marked her place in the book before laying it on the coffee table. It seemed that she would have to wait until later to find out how it ended.

She opened the front door, figuring it was one of the girls stopping by, and gasped when she was immediately swept up into a pair of arms and spun around until she was almost dizzy.

"Zoicite! What are you doing?" she squealed.

He set her back on her feet and then gave her a short, yet very enthusiastic kiss. His bright green eyes sparkled excitedly. "Guess what happened?"

"I'm sure I have no idea," she mumbled, still feeling slightly off kilter by both his greeting and his kiss.

He looked like he was about to burst. "I got the job!"

Amy shrieked in a very un-Amy-like way and threw her arms around his neck. "I knew you would!" she cried and laid a smacking kiss on his cheek. "That's my smart doctor!"

Zoicite laughed. "Don't go praising me yet. I may get in there and screw everything up. This is a lot different than the medicine I practiced in the past. I may have the knowledge inside my head, but knowing it and doing it are two different things."

"Nonsense! You'll be fine," she insisted as she pulled him inside and closed the door.

"I sure hope so," he replied. Then he smacked a fist into his palm. "Man! I am so pumped right now! Let's go do something!"

His excitement was infectious, making Amy giddy enough to forget all about the book she had wanted to finish. She giggled. "Okay. What did you have in mind?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, something different. I'm not in the mood for a quiet museum or sitting still through a movie, but I'm not sure exactly what I want to do. I'm open for suggestions though."

"Hmm…" Amy mused as she racked her brain, but nothing was coming to mind. Then her eyes landed on the newspaper that her mother must have left on the entryway table. The headline read, _The Top 10 Ways to Stay Cool This Summer_.

She picked it up and quickly scanned the article. A wide smile appeared on her face. "I have an idea." She turned the paper so that he could see it and pointed to the picture that accompanied the article. "How about this?"

He looked surprised. "Really? I never pictured that being your kind of place."

She stuck her nose up at him. "Hmph! It's been a couple of years, but I have been there before and it was fun. Besides, I thought you said that you were in the mood for something different. But if this is too different for you…"

"No, no!" he hastily reassured her. "It sounds great to me. I just wanted to make sure that you really wanted to go."

She grinned. "I'm game if you are." Then she stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips across his. "Just let me go change and grab a few things, then we'll go."

Zoicite grabbed her around the waist as she tried to turn away and pulled her up close against him. "There's no hurry. We have all day."

And then he dipped his head down and kissed Amy so deeply that she literally felt her toes curl. But as fuzzy as her brain was, she still luckily heard the rattle of keys in the door lock several seconds later and managed to separate herself from Zoicite and jump back a few feet before the door swung open.

"Mom!" she squeaked when she saw her mother in the doorway. "You actually got off on time for once, huh?"

Dr. Mizuno smiled tiredly. "Hey, you two. Yeah. The ER was slow and there were a couple of other doctors on duty besides me, so I decided to take advantage of the situation and come on home. I'm beat."

Her blue eyes twinkled as she looked at Zoicite. "Of course I heard through the grapevine that we'll have a new doctor joining our ranks soon."

Zoicite blushed. "Yes ma'am. I just got the phone call today. I start next week."

"Well welcome aboard," she told him sincerely. "Of course I knew you were a shoe-in for the position. If there's one thing my Amy has, it's excellent taste, so I figured that you had to be brilliant for her to be dating you. And I'm eternally grateful to you for that, believe me. There for a while I was afraid that she was going to become a lonely, dried up spinster."

"Mom!" Amy gasped in mortification as her cheeks flared crimson. She could not believe her mother was embarrassing her like this. Wait a minute…yeah she could. Anne Mizuno might be one of the most highly respected doctors at Tokyo General, but sometimes she could act as giddy and effervescent as a teenage girl. It was times like these that made her wonder exactly why her parent's marriage had fallen apart. Not that she would ever ask. That was their business.

Her mother turned to look at her questioningly. "What? I'm not saying anything that isn't true. Now you know that I have always been proud of your grades, but everyone needs to get out and have a little fun every now and then instead of sitting around with their head in a book."

It wasn't often that Amy got frustrated with people, but her mom had a way of pushing her buttons like no other. "You make it sound like I live like a nun! I go out all the time with the girls. The way you put it makes it seem like I don't have a life at all. As a matter of fact, Zoicite and I were just about to leave right as you came in."

The older woman waved a hand at her. "So what are you doing standing around chatting with me for? Get going then! I don't want to hold you up."

She glared at her mother for a moment before turning an apologetic look on an amused looking Zoicite. "I'll be right back," she muttered before fleeing down the hall to her room.

She kept herself controlled enough to keep from slamming the door behind her, but once she had entered the sanctuary of her blue and white haven she leaned against the door with an angry growl. Now she knew how Serena felt. Her blonde friend had been complaining for years about the way her mom fawned over Darien and how she had a bad habit of embarrassing her to death in front of him. Now it was happening to her.

She heard her mother's muffled voice through the wood. "That picture was taken the Halloween that Amy was five. She was adamant about being a doctor that year, so I found a tiny little lab coat for her. And that one was her first day of school. Didn't she look adorable in her little uniform? I cried for hours after I dropped her off that day."

Zoicite's husky tenor chuckle reached her ears and made her feel like she was melting. Then she groaned. Oh god! Her mother was giving him a tour of the family photos. If she left them alone much longer the woman was liable to whip out her baby book and show him that horrifying picture of her with her bare baby butt sticking up in the air!

"I've got to get out of here!" she moaned as she flew across the room to her dresser, stripping off her baggy t-shirt and shorts along the way and letting them fall uncharacteristically to the floor. She never left clothes thrown around her room, but today she didn't care. She had to hurry up and break her and Zoicite out of here before her mom sent him running for the hills, screaming for his life.

* * *

"Mina…doorbell…" Artemis growled groggily as he curled up into a tighter ball.

"So what! Let it ring!" Mina's garbled voice came through the layers of both the pillow and the comforter she had over her head. She screamed her frustration into the mattress a moment later when her cell phone began ringing across the room where she had thrown it earlier because it kept persistently ringing.

Finally the annoying tone stopped playing. Then the doorbell began pealing again. Mina groaned and threw the covers back. "It's got to be Serena. She's the only one that would be this stubborn and persistent. I don't know what she bugging me for. She should have Darien tied down to the bed while she has her wicked way with him instead of disturbing me like this."

Artemis cracked an eye open to look at the bedside clock. "Well it is after noon."

"I don't care!" she snapped. "I stayed up late watching that movie last night and I need my beauty sleep. Can you honestly picture the goddess of love with bags under her eyes?"

She stomped over to the glass door and threw it open before stepping out onto the small balcony off her room. "WHAT?" she screamed, looking down toward the front door and gearing up to give Serena a piece of her mind for being so annoying. Then her breath caught in her throat. That definitely wasn't Serena on her front porch.

Kunzite grinned up at her, his platinum hair gleaming in the sun as it danced in the breeze. "Good afternoon, Sunshine! I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Secretly, she was thrilled to see him, but she wasn't going to let him off that easily.

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "What do you think? I would have thought that you would have gotten the hint when I didn't answer the phone or the door."

He smirked, enjoying the view of her long, bare legs. All she was wearing was a tiny, red silk slip. Her hair was down and tousled, and she looked absolutely delectable. "You always tell me not to bother you before noon, so I waited until noon. Now why are you so grumpy about that?"

Her lips formed an adorable pout. "I'm not grumpy!"

He chuckled. "Yes you are. How about you come down and let me in."

His cheerfulness was irritating when she wasn't awake good yet, and it didn't make her feel very charitable. "No! I'm not in the mood for company right now." She turned to go back inside.

"Okay. Then I guess we'll do this my way then," she heard him say.

"What…" she started to ask, but by the time she spun around he was already on the balcony beside her.

She slapped at his shoulder. "You idiot! What if somebody saw you jumping up here like that? Normal humans can't leap tall buildings in a single bound you know."

"Nah! I looked first. There's no one around," he insisted.

"Hmph!" she huffed and walked inside as he followed her. "So what do owe the pleasure of this intrusion to?"

Artemis took one look at who the visitor was and left the room, grumbling about finding a quieter place to sleep.

Kunzite tried to appear contrite. "Is it wrong of me to want to spend the day with a beautiful woman?"

Her blue eyes narrowed. "Now you're just trying to sweet talk me. Besides, I thought you said that you were working on business stuff today. How are you ever going to start your own company if you spend all of your time goofing off with me?"

He grinned at her. "I already finished what I needed to do. There's not much to do at this stage, so I figured I should enjoy what free time I have now before I get bogged down with work."

Mina frowned and stepped forward to place a cool hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling okay? Because that definitely doesn't sound like the stern, no nonsense general I know. I mean, I know you've learned to loosen up a little bit, but this is way beyond the norm for you. You haven't been replaced by a pod person or something, have you?"

He chuckled and took her hand in his. "I assure you that I am myself. So what do you say? Are you up to spending the day with me?"

She smiled impishly at him as she pulled her hand away from his and walked to her closet. "Well now that I'm awake I guess I could listen to your proposal, but you'll have to convince me."

"Convince you, huh?" he growled low in his throat as he made a grab for her.

Mina laughed and snatched a sundress in her hand as she twirled gracefully out of his reach. "You'll have to move faster than that to catch me, general!" Then she ran into the adjoining bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"So what do you have planned?" she asked through the door.

He leaned up against the wall beside it and tried very hard not to imagine what she looked like in there as she changed clothes. But sadly he was only a human, red blooded man, and visions of bursting into that bathroom, sweeping her naked body up into his arms, and carrying her to her rumpled bed where he could lay her down on the tangerine silk sheets ran rampant through his mind.

'_Whoa! Down boy!' _he chided himself. He and Mina were growing closer together every day, and he hoped to eventually have a physical relationship with her, but they weren't quite to that stage yet. Everything was still too fresh and new between them. He was just going to have to wait it out, and take a lot of cold showers, for the time being.

"Kunzite, are you still out there?" Mina's muffled voice broke through his thoughts.

He heard the water in the sink turn on as he answered. "Uh, yeah. I'm still here."

Her voice came back garbled, like she was trying to talk and brush her teeth at the same time. "Sho wha di you whanna do t'day?"

He grinned slyly. Convince her, huh? It sounded like she had already convinced herself. "Weell…" he drawled. "I figured that since you already think I'm acting out of character that we could go and do something completely out of the norm for me."

The water turned off and a few seconds later the door opened to reveal Mina in a pretty, pale yellow sundress with different colored flowers scattered over it. Her freshly washed face held a look of concern. "Okay buddy, you're really starting to scare me now. Are you sure you haven't been abducted by aliens or something? You know what aliens do to people when they catch them, don't you? They open their heads and do all kinds of experiments on their brains and then they…well…I won't go into that part. Let's just say that it involves sticking things in a certain part of your anatomy and leave it at that."

"Ah, you've found me out," he deadpanned. "Little green men from Mars took me up into their spaceship and gave me an anal probe."

Mina burst into hysterical giggles. "Don't let Raye hear you say that! She may take it personally. I am so glad you got a crash course on the modern world while you were gone. Otherwise we'd probably feel like we were speaking two different languages."

He chuckled. "Yeah, it is nice to be on the same page, isn't it?"

She nodded and then flounced over to her vanity table where she sat and began brushing her hip length golden hair. "Okay, you've got my curiosity going here. What is this out of character thing that you want to do?"

"I think I've changed my mind. I want to keep it a surprise," he replied with a sly grin.

She sat her brush down with a thud. "You can't do that! You can't get me wondering like this and then leave me hanging! I want to know!"

He calmly sat down on the edge of her bed. "You'll find out soon enough."

She flew across the room and tackled him, knocking him onto his back as she practically sat on top of him. "You can't tease me like that! It's not fair!"

He arched a brow at her. "You're doing a fairly good job of teasing too. Do you have any idea what kind of ideas you give a man when you pin him down to a bed?"

A fiery blush turned her face a brilliant red, but she snorted contemptuously. "That's a total Jadeite statement! And don't try to change the subject. What do you have planned?"

His voice came out husky. "I'll tell you, but you're going to have to get off of me first because if we stay this way much longer I'm going to kiss the daylights out of you."

Her mouth fell open in surprise, but she made no move to get off of him. Instead her eyes darkened with emotion as she stared down into his silvery gray depths. Then she smiled wickedly as she leaned down and placed her lips over his. She took advantage of his shock and slid her tongue into his mouth where she proceeded to kiss him thoroughly for several long seconds.

Just as he reclaimed his thoughts and made a move to touch her, she pulled back and climbed off of him. Then she smirked. "Looks like I beat you to it, general. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

He watched her as she walked back over to her vanity table and began pulling her hair back with her signature red ribbon. No, that hadn't been bad at all. In fact, it had been a little slice of paradise. He got up off the bed and walked toward her, pulling two passes from his jeans pocket. He didn't say a word as he held them in front of her face for inspection.

Her eyes widened as she read the words printed on them. Then she squealed, "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "As a heart attack."

She shrieked in glee and jumped up to throw her arms around him and kiss him on the cheek. "We are going to have sooo much fun. I've got to change again. What I'm wearing will never work." She let him go and moved to her dresser so fast that she was just a blur.

He cleared his throat. "I'll just wait downstairs until you are ready," he muttered as he slipped from the room. There was no way that he was going to torture himself any more than he already had, and listening to her change clothes again with nothing but a door between them would probably push him over the edge.

Artemis looked up from where he was laying on the back of the sofa as he came down the stairs. "What is that airhead shrieking about this time?"

Kunzite grinned. "I just popped a little surprise on her."

* * *

Serena eyed the colossal water slide in front of her and shook her head adamantly. "Uh uh! No way! I am NOT riding that one!"

"But Sereeennaa!" Rini wailed.

"I said no!" Serena snapped back. "I rode that one when it opened up a couple of years ago and it scared the bejeebers out of me."

Even now, just standing outside the man-made mountain that housed the haunted water slide sent shivers down her spine. And the memories of riding down the slide in the semi-darkness while creepy music and eerie noises played and robotic monsters jumped out all over the place…Brrr! Nope! Never again!

"Geez! Just what kind of superhero are you if you can't even face the obviously fake monsters," Rini grumbled.

Serena gritted her teeth. Rini's on again, off again attitude today was really starting to drive her insane. One minute she would be fine and all smiles and giggles, and then the next she would be sullen and moody. It was like someone flipped a switch that completely changed her personality.

"I'll ride it with you, Rini," Darien spoke up, trying to lighten the suddenly tense situation.

And just like that, the girl's expression turned happy again. "Thanks, Darien! I knew I could count on you, unlike _some _people." She stuck her tongue out at Serena.

"You two have fun. I'm going to get a soda," Serena said quickly and turned away. If she didn't put some distance between her and her future daughter for a few minutes she was positive that she was going to slap the brat!

And when she heard Rini say behind her, "For crying out loud! Can Serena not go more than five minutes without thinking about her stomach?" it was all she could do to force herself to keep walking and not turn back, haul that ungrateful little cretin across her lap, and blister that smart little butt of hers so hard that she would be lucky if she could sit down again by the time she was twenty.

She felt Darien's mind nudge hers and heard his voice whisper, _'Calm down, sweetheart,' _but she shoved it away. It was easy for him to say calm down. Rini had been nothing but sweet toward him all day. It had been the same way with Andrew when they had gone to the arcade for lunch. It seemed that she was the only one that Rini had a problem with for some reason.

"Maybe a soda will help calm me down," she muttered as she approached the concession stand. She had prided herself the last few months on learning how to slow down and not barrel over people as badly as she used to, and hadn't crashed into anyone in quite some time now. But her mind was so caught up in thinking as she went to get in line that she crashed into a man's back before she even realized that there was someone in front of her.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly and then rubbed her nose. She felt like she'd just had a run-in with a brick wall.

Then she heard a deep chuckle. "That's quite all right, Serena."

Her head snapped up in surprise. "Nephrite!" Then she saw the tall, auburn haired girl beside him. "Lita! What are you guys doing here?"

Lita's green eyes danced humorously. "Looks like we're doing the same thing you are, enjoying a hot summer day."

Serena giggled. "Well I hadn't actually planned on coming here today, but Darien came up with this idea when I couldn't get in touch with Mina."

"Where is Darien anyway?" Nephrite asked, looking around expectantly.

Serena waved her hand carelessly. "He's over at _Mystery Mountain _taking care of a little problem that dropped in on us unexpectedly."

Lita's brow furrowed. "What kind of problem?"

Serena heaved a sigh. "Well you see…"

"Serena! Lita!" an excited voice interrupted before she could share her news of Rini's arrival.

"Amy!" the two girls squealed together when they saw the blue haired girl weaving her way through the crowd toward them with Zoicite right behind her. The three of them shared an exuberant group hug.

"Well, well," Serena said with a laugh. "If I'd known that this was going to turn into a group outing I would have called everyone together."

Nephrite quirked a brow. "You'd never catch Mr. Stuffed Shirt Kunzite in a place like this. I'm surprised you're here, Zoi. This isn't normally your kind of thing."

"Hey!" Zoicite exclaimed. "I'm not that hopeless! I don't mind trying new things, and this has been fun so far. But you're right about Kunzite. He would do something as impulsive as running around a water park like a kid."

"Excuse me! I happen to resent that remark!" a low voice growled suddenly.

Everyone spun around in surprise. To their utter disbelief, there stood the former head general of the Earth's Royal Army dressed in a pair of swim trunks, t-shirt, and flip flops. A pair of dark sunglasses shielded his piercing gray eyes and a beaming Mina stood beside him.

"Well would you look at this," Mina giggled. "It looks like almost the whole gang is here."

"Yeah, I know," Lita replied. "Talk about a coincidence. If I didn't know that Raye is under house arrest by her grandfather I would be looking for her and Jed to show up next."

Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was destiny. Who knew? But at that moment a familiar voice screeched, "You better count yourself lucky that there are little kids all around us, Jadeite, or I would tell you to go to a very hot place in a much more explicit way!"

"Raye!" Serena, Mina, Lita, and Amy all cried together when they saw their obviously fuming, raven haired friend a short distance away.

Raye spun around and looked visibly relieved when she saw her four best friends. "Thank god! Normal people!" she exclaimed and hurried toward them.

"I thought you were at home still recovering!" Serena squealed as she pulled Raye to her in a tight hug.

"Yeah. Is there something going on that we need to know about?" Mina asked slyly as Jadeite also joined.

Metaphorical steam poured from Raye's ears. "No there is not! Jadeite was nice enough to break me out of my prison. Then I had a momentary lapse in sanity and got in a high-powered sports car with him. The stupid idiot almost killed us both with his suicidal driving!"

"I had it under control!" Jadeite insisted. "You make it sound like I was driving down sidewalks and mowing over pedestrians!"

"You practically were!" she shot back.

"I was not!"

"You were too!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"I never veered out of my lane! I didn't even break the speed limit!"

"Well you could have fooled me! You're a maniac behind the wheel!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"Quit your harping, Pyro!"

"Make me!"

A devilish gleam entered Jadeite's blue eyes as he took a step toward Raye. "I bet I could find a quieter use for your mouth."

Raye gasped in rage. "You bast…"

"Careful," he cautioned her silkily. "There are little children present."

"Okey dokey!" Serena said quickly, stepping in between the two combatants and linking her arm through Raye's. "I'm so happy to see you up and around again, Raye. And there's somebody else here that I know will be thrilled to see you."

Raye's look turned confused. "What? Who?"

Before Serena could answer, a high-pitched squeal pierced the air. "Hey you guys!" Then a whirling, pink tornado tore into the group.

"Rini!" the scouts exclaimed in surprise as they found themselves being hugged vigorously by the young teen.

Once she was done greeting them, Rini turned a glare on her future mother. "You didn't even tell them I was here, did you?"

Serena felt Darien come up behind her and let the feeling of his hands on her shoulders calm her before answering. "I was just about to tell them when you showed up."

Rini snorted. "Yeah right! I just bet you were. Well you missed all the fun. Darien and I had a blast at _Mystery Mountain_."

Serena dismissed the sarcastic tone and forced a smile onto her face. "Well as long as you had fun, sweetie, that's all that matters."

Rini's expression softened at her words. Then she became extremely animated. "Now that everyone is here this will be even more fun!"

"Kunzite and I were thinking of heading toward the lagoon if anyone else is game," Mina piped up. "They've got the wave pool and the bumper boats over there."

"Sounds good to me," Lita agreed. "I could go for some smashing and crashing on the bumper boats."

Nephrite had disappeared for a moment, but then he reappeared at her side and handed her a soda as he chuckled. "Here. The line kept moving, but you were too busy talking to notice." He handed a second one to Serena.

"Thanks," she said gratefully as she took it. "I'm up for the wave pool, but I don't know about the bumper boats. When we were here two years ago I couldn't make mine do anything except spin in circles. I was so dizzy when I got off that I thought I was going to hurl."

Raye snickered evilly. "Trust me, your driving can't be any worse than Jed's."

"Don't start up on me again, Pyro!" Jadeite warned her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, and then with Serena's arm still looped through hers she turned and snagged Rini with her free arm. "Let's go girls! Our summer fun is waiting!"

* * *

Several hours later Serena sighed in relief as she stepped out of her bathroom, fresh from the shower, and into her soothing pink and white bedroom. She was bone tired, but it was a good kind of tired. Today had been a total blast, even with Rini's smart mouthed comments. It had been nice to have everyone together just to kick back and have fun. Even the normally quiet Zoicite and stoic Kunzite had surprised her by letting loose and acting like kids.

The eleven of them had run rampant over the park, riding the water rides and hitting the slides. They even stayed until after the sun went down to watch the laser light show the park put on every night while they ate hot dogs and nachos from the concession vendors in an impromptu celebratory dinner of both Rini's arrival and Zoicite's new job.

They had all stumbled from the park, tired but laughing, at the end of the night and began splitting off into pairs as they headed for their vehicles. It had taken poor Jadeite fifteen minutes to convince Raye to get back into the car with him. In the end she finally relented, warning him that he better take it easy or she would torch his prized car until there was nothing left of it.

Darien had dropped Serena and Rini off at the Tsukino's house with the promise of meeting them for lunch the next day. Serena would have preferred to go back to his apartment and crash there, but she knew that she had to spend at least a few nights a week at home in her own bed to keep her parents, especially her father, from becoming suspicious about where she was actually spending her nights. Ilene probably wouldn't have a problem with it, but Ken was a totally different story. And she very much wanted to keep Darien alive and in one piece, thank you very much!

At first Rini had considered going back to the apartment with Darien, but then had decided that she wanted to see her grandparents and uncle instead. So she had opted for staying at the house for the night once Serena had assured her that her attic room was exactly like she had left it and waiting for her. As always, whatever hypnotic power it was that always made the Tsukino's welcome Rini with open arms kicked in the moment the girl walked in the door. Ken had caught her up in a giant bear hug and Ilene had made a huge fuss over her, shooing her toward the shower with the promise of a slice of lemon pie for dessert when she was done.

Serena shook her head in bemusement as she began the task of brushing out her obscenely long hair. She was still trying to unravel the mystery of her future daughter's mood swings. Sure, Rini was going through an awkward stage in her life right now, but she couldn't help but think that the young girl had something else bothering her as well.

Then her eyes widened and she smacked herself on the forehead. Of course! Why didn't she think of it before? If anyone could tell her whether or not Rini was having any problems it would be Trista. Since she was the time guardian there wasn't much that got past her.

Serena closed her eyes and reached out with her senses with the special link that she had with her scouts to see if Trista was even in this time at the moment. She could sometimes be a hard lady to track down if she was busy in another time. But she was surprised when she sensed the deep garnet energy signature for Sailor Pluto pop up on her mental radar almost immediately. While in this time Trista usually made her home with the other outer scouts in their huge house on the outskirts of the city, but she also kept an apartment in Azabu as well that she stayed at sometimes. That must be where she was.

Serena reached for her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found Trista's number and pressed the call button. The time guardian's calm, soothing voice answered on the second ring.

"What can I do for you this evening, princess?" she asked smoothly.

"Trista…" Serena replied complainingly. "How many times do I have to tell you to lose the formality?"

Trista chuckled. "Sorry. I can't help but pick on you a little. You know that."

"Yeah, yeah," Serena grumbled. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute."

The time guardian sounded immediately alert. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Serena told her. "It's about Rini."

A deep sigh came over the line. "Just sit tight for a moment. This discussion would probably be best in person." The phone went dead.

Serena sat down on the edge of her bed. A minute later there was a burst of pink light and smoke as Sailor Pluto appeared in the middle of her room. The much taller woman held a finger to her lips in a warning for Serena to be quiet, and then she waved her long staff. A swirling haze of energy covered both the door to the hall and the one to the bathroom that adjoined hers and Sammy's rooms. Then she let her transformation fade, leaving her in a tank top and a pair of yoga pants. Her long, dark green hair was caught up in a high ponytail.

"There! Now we can talk privately without anyone hearing us," she said as she took a seat next to Serena on the bed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," Serena said apologetically.

Trista waved a hand. "You didn't. I've been forced to take some down time by your future self, so I decided to spend some time in this time period. The only thing I was doing was watching some old sitcom reruns. Now! What seems to be the trouble with Small Lady?"

Serena shook her head. "I really don't know. She was fine last night when she first got here, but then when she woke up this morning it was like she turned into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But what disturbs me the most is that her bad mood seems to be directed at me more than anyone and I'm trying to figure it out. I know she's at a difficult age, but this seems extreme, even by normal Rini standards."

Trista sighed deeply. "I was afraid that she would react like this. Neo Queen Serenity and I hoped that sending Small Lady here would help her. And it will if she would just let go of this attitude of hers and try to enjoy herself. But she has your stubbornness and Darien's strong will, so that doesn't always make her easy to deal with."

"She also has her father's sarcastic wit," Serena grumbled. "I know you can't tell me much about the future, Trista, but I would appreciate it if you could clue me in some on why she's acting the way she is. I want to help her, but I don't know how."

"I guess telling you this much won't hurt anything," Trista relented. "The truth is that Rini is barely on speaking terms with her mother at the moment. Like you said before, she is at a difficult age, and that has caused some tension between mother and daughter. Rini is showing all the classic signs of teenage rebellion. She resents the rules that are set out for her and then gets angry when she is punished for breaking the rules. And although Neo Queen Serenity has done a wonderful job of balancing work and family, there are times when things happen that are beyond her control and it cuts into her private time and interferes with plans that she has. Of course this happens with the king as well, but right now Rini needs a woman's guidance and she craves her mother's presence, so she doesn't hold it against Endymion as much as she does Serenity."

"Ah! Now I'm starting to get the picture," Serena replied. "It must be hard for her. I guess I never realized how lucky I was to have my mom here for me all the time, but now I do. Whenever I had a problem or a question I could run to her any time I wanted to. I can't imagine how hard it would be to have to share my mom with the entire world."

Trista nodded. "It is difficult, but your future self has dealt with it admirably. But yesterday there was a bit of a blow up. The royal family was supposed to leave on a vacation today."

"Don't tell me, let me guess," Serena interrupted. "Something came up and the trip was cancelled."

"Bingo," Trista confirmed. "Well, it's been postponed in any case. That didn't go over well with Small Lady. Anyway, some words were said back and forth, and the queen came up with the idea of sending Small Lady here for a visit in hopes of cheering her up. But it seems that the line between this time and the future has blurred for her, and she's transferring the anger she feels right now for her mother toward you."

Serena huffed. "Well that's not fair of her to hold something against me that I haven't even done yet! But I guess I can see where she's coming from. I'm just going to have to try my best to see that she has a good time while she's here and let her know that I'm here for her. I'm not her mother exactly, but maybe I can help."

Trista smiled. "Here's hoping. Now I'm going to go back and watch some more boring television while I attack the carton of cookies and cream ice cream I have in my freezer. I really resent these forced vacations sometimes, but your future self is always adamant that I need a little rest and relaxation every now and then."

Serena giggled. "You do! Everybody needs some time off sometimes, even an all mighty time guardian such as yourself. Now go binge!"

"Okay," Trista chuckled and ruffled her princess's damp hair fondly. She stood up and transformed in a flash of light. "Call me if you need me," she said. And in another flash she vanished. The privacy shields around the doors disappeared as well.

Serena took a deep breath. Well at least now she had some knowledge as to why Rini had been acting like a total brat. She felt sorry for the girl and she hoped that she could get through to her, but she also hoped that she would be able to hold onto both her temper and her sanity while she dealt with it.

Figuring that there was no time like the present to start feeling things out a little, Serena left her bedroom. She paused by Sammy's bedroom door for a moment to listen. Rini had been in there earlier playing some violently bloody video game with him, but all she heard now was her brother chatting to one of his friends while he played online. Her parents had already come up for the night, so unless Rini was sitting downstairs alone, that only left one place for her to be.

She crept silently up the stairs that led to the finished attic room above. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say to Rini, but she'd come up with something.

"Rini, sweetie, are you up here?" she asked as her head rose through the opening in the attic floor. She didn't hear an answer. As she climbed up the rest of the stairs she saw why.

Rini was passed out, face down on her bed. She had one earbud in and one out. An open manga was pinned under cheek and her mouth was slightly open as tiny little snores puffed past her lips. Her long pink hair was splayed out around her in a mess of tangled curls and waves.

Serena couldn't help but smile as a warm, maternal feeling welled up inside her. Seeing Rini like this made her realize how vulnerable the young girl was. In fact, she wasn't much younger than Serena had been when she first became Sailor Moon. No wonder Tuxedo Mask had to save her so much back then. She had only been a child herself when she had first begun fighting monsters. It seemed so long ago now.

She shook her head and laughed quietly as she carefully slid the manga from under Rini. She marked her place and set it on the bedside table. Then she removed the earbud from her ear and turned off the MP3 player before setting it on top of the manga. She pulled up the blanket from the foot of the bed and covered up the sleeping girl.

Rini shifted a little as she smoothed back some stray hairs from her face. Her maroon eyes blinked open hazily. "Momma?"

"Shh…" Serena soothed her. "It's just me. Go back to sleep."

"I'm sorry, Momma. I love you," she whispered as her eyes fell closed again.

Tears pricked Serena's eyes as she heard those words. She may not be a mother yet, but this was her daughter. And no matter how much the girl may irritate her, she couldn't deny that the little imp had a strong hold on her heart.

She leaned down and kissed the softly rounded cheek. "I love you too, sweetheart."

She left the room quietly and made her way back downstairs to her room. Her brain was working furiously as she climbed into bed and turned her lamp off. She couldn't be a replacement for her future self, but since Rini's vacation with her parent's had been put off she was going to try her best to see that the girl had fun while she was here. And she was going to try to be as supportive and understanding as possible as well. Hopefully, when Rini returned home, she would have no doubts about how much her mother loved and cared about her.

Fatigue finally wore her down and she slipped off to sleep. She was hovering on the edge of hazy dreams when she suddenly felt arms around her. She started to wake up, but then she heard a smooth, velvety voice whisper to her, "Shh, don't wake up. I just wanted to hold you for a while."

She smiled in her sleep at the sound of Darien's voice and drifted farther into sleep. She slept peacefully the whole night through and woke up refreshed. At first she thought she had dreamed that Darien had been there with her, but when she rolled over she found a perfectly formed, crimson rose on the pillow beside her. She giggled and held it to her nose to inhale the wonderful scent.

God help her she loved that man!

* * *

**A/N **So there you go. Like I said before, this was mostly just a fun chapter with a few little serious issues thrown in. Things will probably take a more serious turn in the next chapter since we have poor, confused little Rini thrown into the mix. And we also have to get Raye and Jed together finally. And don't forget that Darien still has the whole Harvard decision to make. So things are getting close to wrapping up. I honestly don't know how many more chapters there will be to this story. It depends on what my muse says. We'll see how it goes. Anyhow, keep dropping me those reviews and telling me what you thought. I love hearing your feedback! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	14. Try

**A/N **Well I was hoping to have this ready in time to post on June 30th in honor of Serena and Rini's birthdays, but that didn't quite happen. I'm only the teensiest bit late though, so I hope they can forgive me. Okay, so lots of drama and fluff in this chapter. Everybody gets at least a little mention here. But my main focus is on fixing Rini's attitude problem and our last stubborn, fiery couple. But I'm not saying any more. I don't want to give anything away. The title for this chapter may seem out of place at first, but hopefully it will make sense by the end. Now let me get those hugs out. BIG HUGS TO:

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**AyameRose**

**SammieAtHome**

**jade2nightwing**

**Puella Pulchra**

**saveme57**

**JuliaGulia17**

**snoopykid**

**Angelstar14**

**anime-lover10**

**Jaguarsolaris**

**BostonBill**

**KageNoNeko**

**moonangel0905**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**Seredhiel05**

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**shar1993**

**sabina21**

**x-YingYing-x**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**unlockurdestiny**

**GoldenDragon326**

**Dragoon-Yue**

**sailorashes**

**sailor silvimoon**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**Animegurl9871**

**rainbabie**

Gigantic hugs to all of you for your support and your uplifting words! Now on with the story!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 14

Try

* * *

Darien sat in front of his computer, staring at the monitor. The e-mail that he had composed sat innocently on the screen before him as his finger hovered over the mouse button. He had been sitting there for ten minutes, trying to work up the nerve to press send, but he just couldn't do it.

He shoved his chair back from the desk and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "You're an idiot, Shields!" he groaned to himself. "If anyone else in the world had been given this opportunity they would have jumped on it in a heartbeat. Instead you're sitting here being indecisive."

He got up and strode into his kitchen to find only dregs left in the bottom of the coffee pot. Had he seriously drank the whole pot? When had that happened? Then again, the time that had passed between him crawling out of Serena's bedroom window at dawn and now was kind of a blur.

"I need to get out of here for a while," he decided, turning toward the entry hall. He shoved his feet into his shoes and grabbed his keys off the table before slamming out the front door.

A few minutes later he rode his motorcycle out of the parking garage and into the street. For once the traffic wasn't heavy, and as he stopped at a traffic light at the end of the block he figured that most people were probably staying indoors today. It wasn't quite noon yet, and already the temperature had to be hitting close a hundred. Already he was beginning to sweat, making his t-shirt stick to his back. The only people who could appreciate a day like today were probably Raye and Jed, and perhaps Mina. Venus had been a very warm planet after all. But then again, Mina would probably find it unattractive for the goddess of love to sweat.

He ignored the heat and rode around for a while. He made a complete circuit through Juuban and Azabu. He passed Crossroads Middle School, where Serena had been an eighth grader when he had first met her, and then Juuban High School, where she would be starting her junior year in just a couple of months. He grinned as he cruised by Starlight Tower. That place in particular held some pretty intense memories. He went by the library that he had practically lived in back in high school, and then his old high school itself. Azabu High hadn't changed a bit in the few years since he and Andrew had graduated from there. It still looked the same.

Thinking of his best friend, he decided to beat the heat for a while and drop in at the arcade. He looped around the park and pulled into an empty spot in front of the Crown. The air conditioner hit him with a refreshing blast as the doors slid open. He walked over to his favorite seat at the end of the counter and sat down.

"Don't tell me you want a coffee on a day like today or I'll think you're completely mental," Andrew grumbled as he approached him.

Darien chuckled. "Nah! I think I'll take a triple chocolate shake instead. But don't tell Serena. I'd never hear the end of it if she found out how much I like them."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Like she doesn't know already! You may think that you keep your secrets well, my friend, but everyone that knows you knows that you're a closet case."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Darien demanded.

Andrew gave his hazel eyes another roll. "What I mean, genius, is that everyone around you knows that you are a closet chocoholic. Serena and I have had many humorous conversations about the myriad places you keep your candy stashed away around your apartment, so you may as well give it up. You're busted!"

"I don't know if I should be disturbed that you've been gossiping like a girl or enraged that you have been spending so much time having meaningful conversations with my girlfriend," Darien muttered.

"Don't worry, Prince Charming, your princess is safe with me," Andrew quipped. "So what are you up to today? I'm surprised that you don't have the dynamic duo with you."

Darien chuckled. "I don't have any plans so far, but that could change at any moment, especially with Rini around. I haven't heard anything out of them yet, so they may have plans with the girls."

That theory was shot just a few seconds later when the arcade doors opened and a furious, red faced Serena stomped in. She stalked up to the counter, took a seat next to Darien, and pulled the milkshake that Andrew had just set on the counter toward her and began slurping it down like it was the last one on earth.

Andrew snickered at Darien's almost pained expression at the loss of his milkshake and began making another.

"Um…Serena, is everything okay?" Darien asked hesitantly.

Serena's lips parted from the straw as she turned to glare at her boyfriend. "Let me put it this way, Endymion." Ice skittered down his spine at her use of his past name. "I hope Crystal Tokyo can go without having an heir, because I am seriously considering never going off my birth control as long as I live!"

Ah! A Rini problem! He should have known. The tension had been pretty tight between the two girls the day before at the water park.

"Is she giving you a hard time?" he asked compassionately.

She snorted into her milkshake. "Is she giving me a hard time? I think I'd rather face a Chaos-possessed Galaxia again instead of dealing with that demon-child! She's rude! She's obnoxious! And if I hear the word _'whatever' _come out of her mouth one more time I think I just might turn her over my knee and blister that smart little ass of hers so hard that she will never be able to sit again! I can't even ask her a simple question without her going Cujo on me and it's driving me crazy! She has to be adopted! There is no way that she is any child of mine!"

Darien put an arm around her shoulders. "Sweetheart, calm down. She's just going through that age right now."

She slumped against him. "I know she has some issues going on. I talked to Trista last night and she told me that Rini has been upset lately. But she shouldn't lash out at me when I haven't done anything but try to be loving and supportive. She's been sullen and moody all morning. And when I asked her if there was anything that she wanted to do today she just said _'whatever' _and stuck her head into her music. I'm almost tempted to see what would happen if I zapped that stupid MP3 player of hers with the Silver Crystal!"

"Honey, it can't be all that bad," Darien replied gently.

She nodded against his shoulder. "It is that bad. But I haven't gone off on her…yet. I've about bitten a hole through my tongue, but I've kept quiet. Even when she pushed me out of the way so that she could get to the bathroom first and then spent an hour in there this morning, or when she made sure to '_accidentally' _knock her orange juice over into my plate and ruined my breakfast. I didn't even say anything when she insinuated that I was looking a little chubby and could stand to miss a few meals. I just don't know how much longer I can take it."

"Wow! She sounds a lot like Liz was a few years ago," Andrew chuckled. "That was one of the reasons why I jumped at the chance to move out of the house and into the apartment upstairs, just so I could escape her and mom's fights and be able to study in peace. That master's degree I'm working on isn't going to earn itself after all."

Serena giggled. "Eww, where's the Lysol? I may catch nerd germs by hanging around you smart guys!"

Darien smiled, glad to see Serena acting like herself again. But he made a mental note to ask her later exactly what Trista had told her about their future daughter. It must be something pretty serious if she was trying so hard to keep control of her temper. The Serena he knew never let anyone get in the way of her and her food. Nor did she tolerate people cracking jokes about her eating habits. It was a sore point with her and had been one of the main causes of the fights between the two of them back when they first met.

But his relief was short lived. The arcade doors slid open a few seconds later and in stormed a slightly shorter, pink haired Serena clone. In an action that perfectly mirrored her mother's past self, she climbed up on a stool and grabbed the milkshake that Andrew had just placed on the counter and began practically inhaling it.

"Forget about it, Drew," Darien sighed as Andrew reached for another shake glass and he stared mournfully at yet another lost milkshake. "I think fate has decided that I'm just not supposed to have a milkshake today."

Andrew laughed, but quickly whipped up another shake. He set it firmly in front of his friend, and then, sensing the tension between the three silent people before him, he made his escape to wait on the other customers at the counter.

"So ladies," Darien began hesitantly after the silence stretched on for a few minutes. "What would you two like to do today?"

"Whatever!" Rini growled into the depths of her milkshake.

Darien heard Serena's teeth grit together and saw her bite down viciously on her straw at the sound of that word coming out of Rini's mouth again. He reached for her knee and squeezed it lightly. _'Take a deep breath,' _he cautioned her silently.

She shot him a grateful look and took a steadying breath before fixing a bright smile on her face. "It's so hot today! Maybe we should find something to do that's indoors. We could go to a movie, or perhaps go roller-skating. I haven't been roller-skating in forever. What do you think, Rini?"

The younger girl snorted. "Whatever!"

Serena's closed her eyes in agitation for a moment and sucked in another shaky breath before asking in a forced, cheerful sounding voice, "Well, what would you like to do today, sweetie?"

"Who cares?" Rini grumbled.

"I care," Serena insisted stubbornly.

Rini's head shot up, her maroon eyes blazing angrily. "No you don't! You've never cared about me! All you ever care about is everybody else in your life while I keep getting pushed over to the side! You're vain, and you're selfish, and I want you to stop pretending like you're suddenly my best friend, because you're not!"

"Rini," Serena ground out in a carefully controlled voice. "I know you have some issues going on with your mother right now, but that's no reason for you to take it out on me."

Rini's face went stone cold with fury. It reminded Serena so much of how Darien looked when he lost his temper that she would have found it comical if the situation hadn't been so serious.

"How do you know about that?" Rini hissed in a quiet, deadly sounding voice. "Are you _spying _on me now?"

Serena's cheeks were flushed as she tried to restrain her own temper. "I wasn't spying. I was concerned about you so I asked Trista what was going on."

"Ha!" Rini barked a sarcastic laugh. "So now you're concerned about me! Where was that concern when you decided to pack me up and ship me off like I was nothing? All I wanted was to spend time with you and you sent me away instead! I hate you!" She was screaming by now with tears pouring down her cheeks.

Serena saw red at her words. She was so angry that she almost felt like she blacked out for a second. It wasn't until she felt a hand grab her wrist that she realized that she had raised her hand and was about to _slap _Rini!

She jerked her hand out of Darien's and jumped up from her seat to stomp away. She stopped after a few steps and turned around to look at her future daughter with hurt filled blue eyes.

"Hate me all you want to, Rini," she said softly. "But remember this. You are my daughter. And no matter what, I will always love you. Just keep that in mind." Then she turned and walked gracefully out of the arcade, looking every bit as regal as the queen she would one day become.

Rini sat there, watching as Serena left, with both hands slapped over her mouth as she attempted to hold back her sobs.

Darien glared angrily at his future daughter. "You went too far, Serenity," he said in a firm tone, using her full name to emphasize his point.

"I didn't mean toooo!" Rini wailed suddenly. "I just got so angry!"

She looked so much like Serena, sitting there with her large round eyes full of tears that it tugged painfully at his heart. But he forced himself to remain stern. "Whether you meant to or not, the point is that you have hurt Serena badly. She has always cared very deeply for you and your happiness, even before we found out who you were. I don't know what issues you have going on with your mother right now, but Serena does not deserve to be treated this way."

"I know!" she shrieked as she jumped up to her feet. "I screwed up again! I always screw up! That seems to be the story of my sad, pathetic life!" Then she ran from the arcade in tears.

Darien groaned and clenched both hands in his hair.

Andrew walked over to him. "Dude, I don't envy you one bit. In fact, it's kinda making me reconsider the whole idea of ever marrying and having children. Perhaps I would be better off staying single."

Darien looked up with a rueful grin. "I think Rita might have something to say about that. After all, she is wearing _your _ring on her finger."

"Yeah, Rita," Andrew sighed, his expression sobering just a bit. "My mom would probably have kittens too. She's already informed me that she expects grandchildren someday."

Darien pushed aside his own problems for the moment. "You okay, Drew? You seem kind of down all of a sudden."

Andrew looked down where he was absently wiping the same spot on the counter over and over. "I'm fine. I just miss Rita. I can't wait to get her home. It's seems like every time I talk to her she sounds more tired and distant than before. I'm just ready to get our closeness back."

Darien nodded in sympathy. That right there was why he hadn't been able to send that e-mail earlier. He pushed up from his seat. "I guess I better go find both of my meatball heads and make sure that they are okay."

Andrew sent him off with a wave. "Good luck with that!"

"Thanks, I'll probably need all the luck I can get," Darien grumbled as he walked out into the stifling summer heat.

* * *

Rini ran, blinded by tears and not paying attention to where she was going. She heard a car honk as she dashed across the street, but she didn't know if it was honking at her or not and she didn't care. Vaguely she realized that she had entered the park, but she didn't see the trees and flowers around her. All she could see in her mind was a replay of the disastrous scene that had happened before she had left home.

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, really I am," Neo Queen Serenity said gently. "I know you were looking forward to this trip, but something has come up that your daddy and I have to attend to first. But if things go well perhaps we can go next week instead."

Rini crossed her arms and glared at her mother. "By then something else will have come up, and after that it will be some other crisis that requires your _'queenly attention'_. Before you know it the summer will be over and it will be too late to go on vacation because I'll be stuck back in my stupid classes with Amy and Zoicite. This sucks! The summer is ruined!"

"Quit whining, Bubblegum Brains!" a boy's voice complained through a partially open bedroom door.

"Shut up!" Rini screamed back. "Go stick your head in a book or something, Nerd!

"Sweetie," Serenity sighed as she pulled her into a hug. "I know the timing sucks, and I promise that your daddy and I are going to try to clear things up as fast as we can so we can go on our trip. But until then I'm sure you can find some fun things to do. I know that Je…"

"Just save it, mom!" Rini interrupted her as she pulled out of her arms. "It's not the same. I thought we were going to have some time to just go away and be a normal family without all of the royalty bull crap!"

Serenity looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well how about you go and spend a little time in the past. I know that my past self would love to see you, and you could have some normal time there."

Rini stared at her in shock. "Is that your solution to calling off our vacation, to send me to the past? Why did you ever bother having me if all you ever want to do is dump me on your past self whenever you can't find the time to be a mother?"

"Serenity Serena Shields!" a harsh voice snapped as King Endymion entered the room. "You apologize to your mother right this minute!"

"No!" Rini screamed. "Go ahead! Send me away! I don't care anymore!" She burst into tears and ran for her bedroom. Just before she slammed the door she glared hatefully at her mother. "I hate my life! I wish I had never been born!"

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

"Looks like we both had the same idea," a quiet voice commented, breaking through Rini's reverie. She realized that at some point she had stopped running and had sat down under a tree. She craned her neck around the trunk to see the person sitting on the other side.

"Serena!" she gasped.

Serena's face was red and her eyes were still wet, but she offered Rini a smile. "I guess great minds think alike, huh?"

"Oh Serena! I'm sooo sorry!" Rini cried as she crawled around the tree and practically threw herself on top of the blonde."

Serena laughed lightly as she hugged the younger girl tightly. "I know you are, sweetie. And you're forgiven. I was just sitting here thinking. I remember a time when I felt a lot like you probably do right now."

Rini pulled back and sniffled. "You did?"

Serena nodded. "I've been lucky in this life. My mom chose to be a homemaker, so it seemed like she was always available whenever I needed her. But once upon a time I was a princess with a busy queen for a mother too. I went through a period of time when I grew resentful because it seemed like there was always something important popping up whenever we would have something planned. I grew to hate the fact that we were royalty. And every night I would make a wish on a star that time would stop for just ten minutes so that my mother and I could have a conversation with no interruptions."

"Yeah, that's exactly how I feel," Rini muttered. "So did you and Grandma Serenity get into any fights over it?"

Serena's brow wrinkled. "Well a lot of my memories of that time are pretty hazy, but I do vaguely remember getting mad at her once and screaming that I hated being a princess and that I was going to run away to live on Pluto, or something along those lines."

Rini giggled for a moment and then sat back with a heavy sigh as she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Mom and I had a fight right before I left home. I told her that I hated my life and that I wished I'd never been born."

Feeling that the girl needed to get this off her chest, Serena remained silent.

"I didn't really mean it," Rini mumbled after a few moments. "I mean honestly! What have I got to complain about? I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that would be willing to change lives with me in a heartbeat. I live in a beautiful palace. I have servants to cook for me, clean my room, and do my laundry. And I'm constantly around friends that are like an extended family to me. But sometimes I think I would give it all up for my parents to have normal jobs."

Serena leaned back against the tree trunk and stared up into the leafy green canopy above them. "Being royalty is never easy. I'm sure you didn't ask to be born a princess any more than I did. I'm not sure exactly how I end up becoming a queen, but I guess it happens for a reason. But Rini, just because your mom has a big job to do doesn't mean that she loves you any less than if she were a teacher or a waitress.

"Deep down I know that," Rini whispered as more tears began gushing from her eyes. "I know she loves me more than I deserve. But after the way I acted it would serve me right if she never wanted me to come back home."

Serena smiled. "Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that. I happen to have a little bit of an idea of how Neo Queen Serenity's mind works, and I think she's going to be ready to get you back just as soon as she gets her business taken care of. But in the meantime, she sent you here to have some fun, so that's what we should be focusing on."

Rini looked at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "So does this mean that we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool," Serena replied with a giggle.

Rini squealed and threw herself at her. "Oh Serena! I so _don't _hate you!"

Serena laughed and hugged her back. "I love you too, kiddo!" Then her cell phone began ringing in her pocket and she fished it out. A big grin appeared on her face as she checked the display screen before she answered excitedly. "Amara!"

"Hey Kitten," a slightly husky voice purred over the line. "What are you up to beautiful?"

A peal of giggles bubbled from Serena's mouth. Amara was such a flirt! She didn't know how Michelle put up with her. "I'm just hanging around. So where are you guys at? When are you coming home?"

Amara chuckled mischievously. "You sound anxious to see me. I take it you've missed me as much as I've missed you."

"Of…of course I missed you," Serena stammered as her already hot face grew hotter. Amara's not so subtle flirting always affected her like this, even though she knew it was all in good fun. Anybody that spent two minutes in Amara and Michelle's presence could tell that the two of them were deeply in love and completely devoted to one another.

Amara began laughing. "Ah, my innocent little moon face! I have missed you! Well hopefully we'll be seeing each other soon. Michelle, Hotaru, and I just got home a little while ago and we are unpacking as we speak."

"You're back!" Serena squealed, shooting a look to Rini, who was bouncing on her knees by now. "Is Hotaru close by? I have someone here who is dying to speak to her."

Amara huffed a slight chuckle. "I don't even have to ask. I'm assuming that this someone is a miniature, pink haired version of you."

"Well she's not quite so miniature anymore," Serena mused. "But you got the pink hair right."

"This should be interesting," Amara drawled. Then she called out, "Taru! You've got a phone call!"

Serena grinned and handed the phone over to Rini, who scurried several feet away. A few seconds later she was exclaiming excitedly, "Hotaru! Guess who!"

"So are you going to stand behind this tree and eavesdrop all day, or what?" Serena asked calmly.

Darien stepped around the trunk and looked down at her with that heart-stopping smile of his. "I didn't want to interrupt you two while you were having your little heart to heart. You handled the situation beautifully. Of course I always had faith in you."

"Sure you did!" she snorted. Then she whispered, "Thank you."

He looked confused. "For what?"

"For stopping me back at the arcade when I lost my temper," she told him. "I don't think I would ever be able to look at myself in the mirror again if I had slapped her."

"I kind of figured that," he said softly. "You never like causing anyone pain, even when they kind of deserve it. And Rini was pushing the limits back there."

"She was just confused," Serena sighed. "But I think we got most of the wrinkles ironed out for now."

"Hey Serena!" Rini squealed suddenly. "Hotaru wants me to spend the day with her and then stay with her tonight. Can I? Please, please, please!"

Thrilled to see her future daughter acting happy again, Serena readily agreed. "Sure! I bet that will be fun!"

After another minute Rini snapped the phone closed and ran back to Serena and Darien. "They're going to pick me up at the arcade in about an hour, so I've got to run to the house and grab my stuff."

"Hey, I'm all for anything that gets me out of this heat for a while," Darien said as he held a hand out to pull Serena to her feet. Then he offered an arm to each of them. "Shall we, ladies?"

They both giggled and latched on to him.

* * *

"Damn! I forgot how hot real life could be!" Nephrite complained as he stepped through the balcony doors and into the entertainment room of the penthouse. "It's got to be a hundred degrees out there."

"It's not that hot," Jadeite commented where he was sprawled across one of the sofas with the TV remote in his hand as he flipped through the stations.

Zoicite looked up from the book he was reading. "Of course you wouldn't think so, Jed. But it is quite warm out there, considering it's only June. We could be in for a brutal summer."

Jadeite snickered. "I'm sure your little Mercury could find some ways to cool you off. Or would she actually heat you up?"

Nephrite nodded. "Yeah. You two did seem to be awfully touchy feely yesterday. It looks like you've managed to crack the ice around her fairly easily."

"So have you gotten any action from her yet?" Jadeite asked bluntly as he reached for the bag of potato chips on the coffee table.

"Jadeite! Please!" Zoicite groaned as he felt heat rising up his neck as he recalled the night before.

_He moaned at the feeling of slim fingers tangled in his hair and the taste of Amy as her sweet little tongue twirled and danced with his. He had only intended to give her a gentle kiss goodnight, but she had taken him by surprise when she had pulled him into an intensely deep kiss._

_Then again, he wasn't sure he should really be all that surprised. He had figured that she had a passionate nature hidden behind her cool, calm personality, much as the girl he had known in the past had. It just took time to work past her shyness._

_He slowly pulled his lips from hers and stared down into her liquid blue eyes that were shimmering brightly. Her lips were pink and slightly swollen and her chest heaved gently as she drew in breaths._

"_I love you, Zoi," she whispered softly._

_And he knew that she meant those words. He could read her emotions clearly on her face. She had finally thrown away any last lingering reservations about him and had fully accepted him. His heart felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest._

"_I love you too, Amy," he said gently as he trailed his fingers down her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into the caress. In that moment, he knew that he could carry her inside to her bed and make her completely his and she would welcome him. But he was a gentleman at heart, and he wanted to give her time to come to terms with their blossoming relationship before they took the next step._

_So he kissed the tip of her nose and gently nudged her toward her door. "Get some sleep, princess. I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Ooo…he's blushing!" Jadeite howled with laughter.

"Shut up, you pervert!" Nephrite growled as he threw a throw pillow at him. "Leave the poor man alone! His and Amy's relationship is his business. You need to worry about your own life. I haven't noticed you making much headway with Raye. There were a couple of times yesterday that I thought for sure that she was going to light you up."

Jadeite waved a hand. "Nah! She's coming around. It's just taking some time. But I'm getting close. What about you? It looked like you and Lita still have a little tension between you two, especially when she caught you glaring at that guy that was checking her out in her bathing suit."

"I should have broken that bastard's face," Nephrite snarled. "He was practically undressing her with his eyes!"

"Whoa! Down boy! I didn't mean to get you riled up," Jadeite chuckled.

Nephrite turned back toward to glass doors and looked out over the city. He usually didn't lose control of his emotions. Only Lita had the power to make him lose his cool, as she had proven last night.

_He growled against the smooth skin of her neck as he felt her hands move under his shirt to stroke the skin of his back. He bit her lightly and then licked the spot, delighting in the way she shuddered and gasped in his arms._

"_Nephrite," she whispered on a sigh._

_He pressed himself against her, lifting her legs to wrap around his waist as he pinned her against the door behind her. He moved his lips to hers and kissed her roughly. Hot, animalistic need rose up inside him as he moved his fingers to the front of her shirt where he almost ripped the buttons off in his haste to feel more of her skin. Only his electrifying Jupiter had ever made him lose control like this._

_He was so lost in his sensual haze as his hands skimmed up her ribcage that it took him several moments to realize that her hands had moved from his back to his shoulders where they were pushing against him and moans had turned to cries._

"_Nephrite! Wait! Please stop!" she begged._

_Her pleas broke through the fog and he pulled back to look into her eyes. He saw uncertainty swirling in their dark green depths._

_He sucked in a deep breath and tried to get himself under control. Once he had, he said gently, "You're not ready for this, are you?"_

_She shook her head. "Not yet. Everything is still so new between us right now." A tear slipped from her eye to roll down her cheek._

"_Hey, it's okay," he reassured her as he wiped the tear away with his thumb. "I would never force you into anything. If you need time, then I'll wait as long as you need me to." He set her back on her feet and then hugged her close. "I love you, Lita."_

_She sniffled and burrowed her head in his chest. "I love you too."_

He pulled himself from his thoughts and turned to smirk at Jadeite. "If you want to badger someone about their relationship, you should bug Kunzite. He's the one that I noticed didn't come home until early this morning."

Jadeite looked terrified. "Uh uh! No way! If you think I'm asking Kunzite about _that_ then you're crazier than hell!"

"Asking me about what?" Kunzite growled as he stalked into the room, impeccably groomed in a lightweight summer suit of charcoal gray with a white button down shirt and a lighter gray tie knotted neatly at his throat.

"Nothing!" Jadeite said hurriedly. "So how did the meeting go?"

Kunzite set his briefcase on the coffee table and reached up to loosen the tie and undo a couple of buttons. "It went well. The man has three older buildings for sale in the heart of Azabu's business district. They need to be renovated and updated, but they are in a prime location. I think it would be a good investment for us to start off with."

"Hey, hey! It sounds like we might finally be in business. That is if this guy doesn't try to rip us off," Nephrite said excitedly.

Kunzite shook his head. "I don't think he will. He inherited the buildings from his grandfather and he has no interest in them, so he's willing to let them go for a reasonable price. He's busy pursuing his own business interests. He just opened a club here in town. In fact, he gave me a bunch of VIP passes and told me to come out tonight and bring some friends. I thought maybe we could grab the girls and swing by. You and Jadeite are better at reading people than I am. This way you can meet him and see if you sense anything out of the ordinary."

"Raye would be better at it than anyone," Jadeite mumbled. "But I don't know if I would be able to convince her to go or not."

Nephrite clasped his shoulder. "I bet she will if all the other girls go. We'll just treat it as another group thing like we did yesterday."

Zoicite closed his book. "I guess I better call Amy then and see if she wants to go."

"I have a better idea," Kunzite told them. "I spoke to Mina a little while ago, and she said that she and the girls were lunching at the arcade. Why don't we just drop in on them in person?"

* * *

"So what are you so cheerful about today?" Raye grumbled at the bubbly blonde sitting next to her.

Mina gave her a bright smile. "It's a beautiful day today! Why shouldn't I be happy?"

"Yeah right!" Lita growled as she held her frosty milkshake glass against her sweat dotted forehead. "It's hotter than the flaming pits of hell out there. It makes me want to move to Alaska and hang out with the Eskimos."

"Amen!" Amy seconded weakly. She was drenched in sweat, her clothes damp and sticking to her uncomfortably. Even her normally bouncy blue hair hung limp and wet across her brow. "I don't think I ever remember it being this hot in June before." She fished an ice cube out of the glass of ice she'd had Andrew bring her and rubbed it over her face and neck.

"Oh you poor thing!" Mina exclaimed, fanning her friend with the fashion magazine she had in her hand. "You look like you're melting before my eyes."

Amy smiled wanly. "I'll be fine in a minute. I just have to wait for the air conditioning to cool me off."

Mina gave up her fanning after a minute and sat back. She started humming to herself as she flipped through the pages of her magazine.

Raye slammed her hand down on the table. "What is with you? I know you're usually irritatingly perky, but damn! You are just Little Miss Sunshine and Rainbows today."

Mina waved the magazine at her. "Excuse me for being happy, Miss Doom and Gloom! What's wrong with you? Did you mistake vinegar for water this morning? You're so sour! Or did Jed run away from you screaming last night because you tried to kiss him?"

Raye snorted. "As if I'd kiss that obnoxious pervert! He's so annoying!"

Lita snickered. "Hey Mina! Maybe Jed kissed her and she's trying to cover the fact that she liked it by acting like a bitch."

"He…did not…kiss me!" Raye ground out between clenched teeth.

'_But he almost did,' _a voice whispered through her head. _'And you almost let him.'_

She sat back and folded her arms across her chest as she thought back to the night before.

_"Here you are, safe and sound," Jadeite announced as he pulled the car up in front of the steps that led up to the shrine._

"_At least you didn't drive like a maniac this time," she snapped as she reached for the door handle._

"_Wait!" he exclaimed, jumping out of the car and running around to her side to hold the door open for her. "I'll walk you up," he said once she was out._

"_This wasn't a date, remember," she reminded him._

_He chuckled. "I know. I know. I'm just sticking by my oath to see you safely home. Your grandfather would expect it."_

"_Suit yourself," she replied flippantly as she began climbing the steps. She was intensely aware of him walking at her side. When they reached the top she turned to him. "Okay, I'm home now. Your job is over."_

_Jadeite grabbed her hand as she turned away. "Raye, wait! I had a really good time with you today, and I know you did too."_

_She looked up at him in exasperation. "Big deal! We had fun. So what?"_

_He heaved a sigh, his blue eyes boring into her violet ones. "Damn! I wish for once you would stop being so stubborn." Then his head was lowering toward hers._

_She stared in fascination as his lips drifted closer and closer to hers. She longed to feel them, but she knew that one taste and she would be hooked. So she jumped back at the last second, ripping her hand from his grip._

"_I have to go!" she choked out as she turned and almost ran away from him, feeling like a coward._

She was a coward. She realized this as she came back to the present and looked around at her happy friends. She could be one of them if she just quit being so scared. But it was easier said than done.

Mina was watching Raye out of the corner of her eye. She saw the emotions burning in her friend's eyes and wished that there were something that she could do to help her. But short of locking her and Jadeite up in a fire resistant room together until they were a couple again, there was nothing she could do.

She sighed inwardly. She just wanted all of her friends to be as happy as she had been when she woke up that morning. There was nothing wrong with that. Was there?

_She came awake slowly, stretching against her silk sheets and then wincing a little at a slight soreness in her muscles. Then her foot connected with something that felt a lot like a slightly hairy human leg and her eyes shot open._

_The first thing she realized was that her pillow was much harder than normal and that it moved slightly under her cheek. She also heard a thumping sound that sounded a lot like a heartbeat. As her eyes adjusted to the faint, early morning light, she could see that she was curled up against a man's chest…a very solid, well muscled, man's chest._

_She twisted her head around slowly to look up…and found Kunzite's sleeping face above her._

_Then the memories from the night before came crashing back into her head; the hot hungry kisses, the exploring hands, whispered declarations of love filling her ear, the clothes practically melting off of them as they fumbled up the stairs to her room, the softness of her bed against her back as his hard body pressed her into the mattress. There had been one brief moment of pain, and then…wow! _

_She pressed her face to his shoulder to stifle a giggle. She wasn't a virgin anymore! She was a woman…his woman. And it felt incredible. She felt empowered. She couldn't believe that she, ditzy Mina Aino, had managed to land herself a man like this._

_She reached up to sweep the tousled platinum hair away from his eyes and gasped when his hand grabbed her wrist. His eyelids opened to reveal amused looking gray depths._

"_You're awake!" she squeaked._

_He chuckled. "Of course I am. What man could sleep with such a soft, warm little body wriggling next to him?"_

_Then he rolled so that he was on his side. He propped his head up on a hand as he gazed down at her. "This is a nice way to wake up though." He stroked her jaw tenderly. "How do you feel?"_

"_Like I'm in love," she whispered as she cupped his cheek in her hand and felt the rasp of his whiskers against her palm._

_He ran his fingers through her hair, fanning the strands across the pillow. "So there are no regrets about last night?"_

"_Mmm, no. No regrets," she sighed as she snuggled close to him._

_He leaned down and kissed her right below her ear. "I love you, my goddess."_

"_And I love you, my general."_

"Jupiter to Venus!" Lita said as she waved a hand in front of Mina's face. "Are you still in there?"

"Huh?" Mina mumbled as she snapped out of her daze. Then she looked around. "Where did Raye and Amy go?"

Lita snorted. "Well you'd know if you hadn't been lost in La-La-Land for the last few minutes. Raye went to the bathroom and Amy went to order a soda." Then she sat back with a thoughtful look. "So what is up with you? You're acting like you got laid or something."

Mina sputtered on the sip of milkshake she had just taken and began coughing.

Lita's eyes widened. "Oh my god! You did, didn't you? You jumped Kunzite's bones!"

Mina lunged across the table and slapped her hands over her friend's mouth, "Why don't you say it a little louder, Lita? I don't think the people two continents over heard you."

Lita twisted her head away from the restraining hands. "All right, already! It's no business of mine if you want to get your freak on anyway. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I do!" Mina hissed back. "I love him, okay! I know that I'm not going to be with anyone else but him. I was ready to commit and the time felt right, so I jumped in!"

"What are you two over here whispering about? Are you planning mischief again?" an amused voice suddenly interrupted them. They looked up to find a pair of humorously sparkling, navy blue eyes watching them.

"Amara!" they both cried in surprise as they scrambled from their seats to hug their fellow scout.

A quiet giggle came from behind the tall blonde. "Don't forget about me," Michelle told them.

"And me too!" Hotaru piped up.

"When did you guys get back?" Mina asked as hugs were shared all around.

"Just this morning," Amara told them. "And man is it good to be back home again."

"Hey you three!" Raye and Amy called out as they joined them. Then the cycle of hugs started again.

"I see we beat Serena here," Amara chuckled. "I called and told her that we were back, and then found out that Rini was here visiting. So we're supposed to be picking Rini up so she can keep Hotaru from being bored." She rolled her eyes at her adopted daughter.

The fifteen year old, black haired girl stuck her tongue out as a response.

"Hotaru!" a voice squealed suddenly, and with an intensity that could almost shatter glass.

Hotaru spun around just in time to be tackled by a flying pink blur. "Rini!" she cried, hugging her dear friend tightly.

"Amara! Michelle!" a second excited, but slightly more subdued voice called out. The two older scouts barely had time to draw a breath before they found themselves being pulled into a three-way hug with their laughing princess.

"There's my kitten!" Amara chuckled as she felt the comfort of that slim arm around her waist.

"Oh we've missed you, Serena!" Michelle exclaimed in her quiet, but no less happy tone.

Serena pulled back to look at them, happiness brimming in her eyes. "You guys are early! I wasn't expecting you to beat us here."

Michelle laughed softly. "Hotaru was too excited about seeing Rini to wait, so we decided to come on ahead."

"Are you kidding? That girl wouldn't give us a moment's peace until we finally left the house," Amara grumbled.

Serena swatted Amara on the shoulder as she went over to greet the youngest of her scouts with a hug. "I'm so happy to see you again, Hotaru."

"I'm glad to see you too, princess," Hotaru replied formally.

Serena mock scowled at her. "What have I told you about the formalities?"

The younger girl smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Serena." A second later though, she stiffened. "I feel strange presences approaching."

"I thought I felt something too," Michelle agreed. "But I wrote it off because it felt like…"

"The generals!" Amara snarled as she glared in the direction of the door and the four men that had just walked in.

"Damn!" Darien hissed. Up until now he had been standing quietly over to the side while the girls had their reunion, but now he began drifting toward his friends.

The movement caught Amara's eye and she pinned him with a furious glare. "This is all your fault, isn't it? Leave it to a man to do something so idiotically stupid!"

"Amara, please! Just hear us out!" Serena begged as she planted herself in front of the enraged scout of wind. "Darien didn't do this by himself. I helped him. And we had our reasons for…"

"Stop trying to cover for his screw ups, Serena!" Amara snapped. "That pretty boy of yours has had some moronically male moments before, but this one takes the cake! Why the hell are they here?"

Michelle put a soothing hand on her shoulder. "Just calm down for a moment, dearest. I'm sure there is a very good explanation for everything."

"Calm down? Calm down!" Amara fumed. "How can you tell me to calm down? Have you forgotten what they did?"

Serena signaled with her eyes to the other girls that it might be a good idea to get their boyfriends out of there. Amara's eyes narrowed as she watched Mina, Lita, and Amy scramble from the booth and hurry toward the guys.

"Oh god!" she groaned. "Don't tell me that they've already sucked you girls back in! How stupid can you be?" Then she looked at Raye, who was still sitting at the table, calmly sipping her milkshake like nothing was going on. "Aren't you going to jump up like the others?"

Raye arched a brow at her. "Nope. I haven't finished my lunch yet. Besides, they're big boys. I'm sure they don't need us girls taking up for them."

Jadeite blew her a kiss and she promptly flipped him off with a smile on her face.

"At least one of the inners has kept their sanity," Amara muttered. Then she looked down into Serena's worried face. "You're not going to let me beat them up, are you?"

Serena shook her head. "No. I can't. I know this is hard for you to hear, but they are friends. It's time to let go of the things that happened so long ago that none of us had any control over."

Hotaru wandered over to where Mina, Lita, and Amy stood with the generals. The girls tensed, knowing that their youngest member was by far the deadliest of them all. And none of them were quite sure what she would do.

The girl merely studied each of the men with her wise looking amethyst eyes. After a minute she turned away with a huff. "I don't see why you're making such a big deal over them, Amara. There's nothing evil about them. They aren't ordinary men because I can sense that they have powers similar to that of the prince's and the inner scouts, but they are no threat to us."

"Of course they aren't!" Rini exclaimed. "Anyone that thought they would turn against us is just plain mental! They are the good guys!"

"Straight from the mouths of babes," Michelle laughed softly.

"Fine!" Amara growled. "I'll let it go for now. Now let's get out of here while my temper is still under control." She paused by the generals on her way to the door to snarl at them. "But if you guys hurt my girls, you're going to have to answer to me! Remember that!" Then she tossed a wave over her shoulder to Serena. "Later, Kitten!"

"I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with her," Michelle muttered as she hurried after mate.

Rini and Hotaru rushed after them, jabbering excitedly about going to the mall.

Serena let her shoulders slump. "Am I ever glad that's over!"

"You and me both!" Mina seconded. "At least it went a little smoother than I imagined. No blood was spilled."

Lita sighed. "I was wondering there for a minute though. Amara is one of the few people that genuinely frightens me. And you never know what to expect from her when she's mad."

"Thank goodness Michelle can usually keep her under control," Amy said softly.

Darien chuckled as he approached Serena. "I thought you were about to get in her face about the whole thing."

She shot him a look. "Don't laugh! My knees are still shaking."

"Way to stick up for me, Pyro!" Jadeite complained as he bounced over to the booth to sit beside Raye. He slung an arm over her shoulders.

"Get off of me!" she shrieked and shoved him off the seat where he landed in a heap on the floor.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Mina asked Kunzite curiously.

"Ah yes," he mused. "I'm glad you asked that."

* * *

"This is going to be sooo much fun!" Mina gushed as she leaned in front of the mirror to put in her earrings.

Serena giggled as she nudged her aside to check her make up again. "That's the hundredth time you've said."

"More like the thousandth!" Raye grumbled as she sat on the edge of the bed to put on her strappy high heels. "You don't have to get so worked up about it. We're just going to a club."

"Yeah, but it happens to be the _hottest _club in town right now," Lita interjected. "I've heard people say that they've stood in line for hours trying to get in and never make it. Damn! I can't reach my zipper."

"Oh, turn around!" Amy ordered her, and she slid the tiny zipper up.

After being presented with the VIP passes to the town's newest dance club, the girls, even Raye, had jumped at the chance. You only had to be sixteen to get into most clubs in town, but they had been kept so busy fighting enemies that they really hadn't had a chance to experience going to a club more than once or twice since becoming old enough.

And since they had only been given a few hours' notice they hadn't had a chance to hit the mall to shop, so they did the next best thing. They all scurried home to grab a few items and then converged at Mina's to prowl through her many closets full of clothes, some of which had never been worn and still had the tags on them.

Mina whirled around to look at them. "Okay! Let me give everyone the final once over, and then we'll be ready."

Serena looked sultry in a short, fitted black dress with spaghetti straps and a neckline that was low enough to show a hint of cleavage. Black silk stockings encased her slim legs and she wore black heels that were just high enough to give her some lift without throwing off her sometimes precarious balance. The girls had talked her into abandoning her normal hairstyle in favor of gathering her golden curls back in a loose ponytail.

Raye was blazing, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing red. The deep purple dress she wore was short, tight, and strapless, showing her toned body off to perfection as well as bringing out her violet eyes. Since she felt at home in high heels, thanks to being Sailor Mars, she had on a pair of extremely high heeled, strappy black sandals. Her raven hair hung long and loose as usual down to her waist.

Lita looked very…well…not like Lita. Usually whenever she dressed up she tried to downplay her height by wearing long skirts and flat shoes. But tonight she was pulling out all the stop in a dress of bright red with two inch wide shoulder straps, a daring neckline, and a skirt that hit a couple of inches above her knees. She also wore black heels since she didn't have to worry about towering over her date. Her hair was down and loose, tumbling in gleaming auburn curls past her shoulders.

Amy had undergone a metamorphosis. Mina had attacked her short blue hair with a curling iron until it curled and fluffed around her head before pinning the sides back with rhinestone clips. Then she had badgered the shy girl until she had agreed to wear one of her favorite party dresses. The dress was a warm melon color with spaghetti straps and a short swishy skirt. A pair of slightly darker orange, heeled sandals completed the look and transformed the cool ice queen into a hot little mama.

Mina clapped her hands in excitement. "Am I good, or am I good? You girls look amazing!"

Serena laughed. "You're doing a pretty good job of looking WOW yourself, Mina."

"Do you really think so?" she asked anxiously as she turned around. The gold dress she wore had only one shoulder strap and a slanting neckline that was mirrored by the cut of her short skirt. Wicked looking gold heels were on her feet and her long blonde hair fanned around her as she twirled.

"Nobody will miss you in a crowd," Lita chuckled. "You are definitely gold and shiny."

Mina bit her lip. "Do you think it's too much?"

"Not at all," Amy reassured her. "You look beautiful."

Serena giggled. "Kunzite's jaw is going to hit the floor."

"I think more than his jaw will end up on the floor before the night's over," Lita whispered to Mina, earning her a glare from her blonde friend.

"Hmph!" Raye huffed. "At least I'm not tied down to one man for the night. I'm going to go dance and have fun. I'll dance with every man there if I feel like it."

A scratching sound came from the door, followed by Artemis's complaining voice. "Aren't you girls ready yet? There are five men downstairs waiting, and they are getting agitated."

"We're coming!" all of the girls except Raye squealed and scrambled from the room.

Raye trudged along behind them at a much slower pace, hoping to arrive after all of the mushy-gushy greetings between her friends and their boyfriends. She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the top of the stairs. There was still quite a bit of hugging and touching going on between the disgustingly happy couples, but at least none of them were trying to eat each other's faces off.

Then her gaze fell on the lone man standing at the foot of the staircase and her breath froze.

'_Oh, Great Spirit! He looks so good!' _she thought to herself as she took a moment to drink in the sight of Jadeite. His black slacks fit him perfectly and his red button down shirt looked molded to his shoulders and chest. His golden hair gleamed and his blue eyes shown brightly as they roamed over her. Lust burned in those orbs as he took in the sight of her long exposed legs, but she also saw pride and admiration in those depths. Feeling like she was in a daze, she drifted down the stairs.

"You look amazing!" Jadeite said huskily as she reached the bottom.

She gave herself a swift mental kick. "Well I didn't dress up for you! We're not going on a date or anything. We're all going as a group."

He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay! But you will do me the honor of riding to the club with me, won't you?"

She suddenly felt nervous about being alone with him again, especially after the close call between them the night before. "Umm…I think I'll just hitch a ride with one of the others."

He smirked at her. "Well you better hurry before they leave you behind."

"What?" she squeaked. Then she looked around and realized that they were the only people left in the foyer. The front door was open and everyone else was gone.

"Hey!" she cried and ran for the door. She looked out just in time to see four vehicles driving down the street. She fumed for a moment. The other girls had known that she didn't want to ride with Jadeite to the club.

'_I think I've been set up,' _she thought heatedly.

"Come on, Pyro," Jadeite said, taking her by the elbow. "Taking a ride with me isn't the end of the world."

* * *

A few hours later Jadeite was seriously debating whether it was the end of the world or not. He sat at a table in the back corner of the crowded club with his four best friends as he picked at the label on the bottle of beer before him and scowled.

Nephrite elbowed him in the side. "Hey man! Wipe that dark look off your face. You're not going to win her over by looking like that."

"At the rate I'm going I'm not going to win her over at all," he growled.

"Aw, let the boy pout. He'll get over it," Kunzite drawled. "Won't you, Hothead?"

Darien chuckled. "Don't pick on him too much. Raye can be hard to handle. He just may not have what it takes to reel her in."

"Both of you piss off!" Jadeite snarled furiously. His face was red with anger and heat was beginning to shimmer around him, making Nephrite and Zoicite scoot slightly away from him.

"Do you guys need anything?" a dark haired waitress asked as she approached their table. "Anybody need a fresh beer or something?"

"Nope, I'm good," Darien answered.

Kunzite nodded. "Same here."

"I'm fine for now," Nephrite said cheerfully.

"I'm still fine," Zoicite concurred.

The waitress smiled and nodded. "Well you guys wave me down if you need anything." She turned to Jadeite. "What about you?"

Jadeite glanced up at her with a hint of his playful grin. "Bring me a whiskey. Make it a triple."

"Sure thing!" she told him. "I'll be right back with that."

"Um, Jed," Zoicite ventured hesitantly while the others just stared at the blonde man in shock. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you to drink that?"

"Well excuse me Dr. Know-It-All!" Jadeite snapped. "I think you know me well enough by now to know that I can hold my liquor. I just need something to take the edge off. And my damn foot is still hurting like a son of a bitch!"

Earlier when all of the guys had hit the dance floor with their ladies, he had attempted to dance with Raye. She had smiled at him and given him a coy, come hither look that had made his heart leap joyously in his chest. Then when he had gotten close to her she had brought the sharp heel of her shoe crashing down on his foot and then flounced off to dance with a random stranger.

So here he was, sitting here, just like he had been doing all evening. Occasionally the girls would come back to the table to rest for a little bit and have something to drink or the guys would go out on the floor to dance with the girls, but he just sat there. Raye hadn't come near the table in all that time except to grab her soda, take a few sips, and then dance away. It was maddening.

He'd had a few women approach him and ask him to dance, and part of him wanted to just to shove it in Raye's face that he could have a good time too. But after dancing with the first woman who asked him, who had been a stunningly attractive blonde, he realized that his heart just wasn't in it. So he turned down all the other offers in favor of sitting and looking for glimpses of Raye as she danced the night away.

"Here we go," the waitress said as she returned with his drink and set it before him. Then she smiled seductively at him. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

The flirt in him couldn't resist rising to the bait. He flashed his cocky grin at her. "I think I'm good at the moment. But if I think of anything I'll be sure to let you know."

She winked at him and then sauntered away, swaying her hips. He watched her for a moment and then shook his head. He actually chuckled a second later when he reached for his drink and saw a phone number written on the cocktail napkin under the glass.

"Well I guess I still have my touch," he said in a depressed voice. "The ladies still throw themselves at me in droves, but the one I want to throw herself at me avoids me like the plague." He knocked back a healthy slug of the whiskey, almost wishing it could burn Raye out of his mind the way it burned his throat.

The others stayed quiet, not quite sure what they could say to their friend to make him feel better. In fact, none of them could ever quite remember seeing Jadeite like this. He was usually happy for the most part, cracking jokes and teasing those around him. They had also seen him when he was angry or when he was serious in battle. But this moody, brooding Jadeite was a stranger to them.

The uncomfortable silence was broken a few minutes later as Serena, Mina, Lita, and Amy stumbled up to the table, red faced and panting, but laughing.

"Omigosh!" Serena gasped as she reached for the soda next to Darien's beer. "I haven't danced like this in…no, I take that back. I've never danced like this before."

"I know!" Mina squealed. "Isn't this the best? You'll come join me for the next slow dance, won't you Kunzite?" she pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

He looked at her indulgently. "If you like."

Serena clasped her hands. "You will too, right Darien?"

He chuckled. "Of course."

"I feel out of shape!" Amy moaned as she sat down next to Zoicite and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Speak for yourself!" Lita quipped. "I could go all night." Then her head whipped around. "Speaking of going all night, where did Raye go?"

Serena glanced around, looking a little concerned. "I don't know. I thought she was right behind us."

"Damn!" Mina growled. "I'm going to whip out my Love Chain and beat her yet!"

Jadeite picked up on the tension in the girls quickly. "What's wrong with Raye?" he demanded.

Serena, Mina, and Lita clammed up, but Amy said quietly. "She's been dancing with this guy for a while, and we don't like the way things are going. He looks to be quite a bit older and he's been buying Raye drinks. He also seems to be a little touchy-feely."

"What?" Jadeite bellowed as he shot up from his seat,

"Hold up! I see her," Lita announced as she looked out over the crowd. "She's dancing with that weirdo again, but she's fine."

Jadeite followed the direction of her gaze and breathed a sigh of relief when he caught sight of Raye. He didn't care for seeing her in some other guy's arms, but at least he knew she was okay.

At least that was what he thought until he took a closer look at the situation. Then he noticed the lecherous smirk the man had on his face as he leaned his head close to Raye's. The sick bastard looked like he was smelling her hair. Then he saw the wandering hands moving over her body. One hand was smoothing down her back to her butt while the other was skimming around her side toward her breast.

He saw Raye push the guy back a few steps with a look of annoyance on her face. Then the man jerked her back hard against him and grabbed her ass in both hands as he squeezed. Raye leaned as far back as she could, avoiding the lips that were suddenly seeking hers.

Jadeite heard Lita's gasp of outrage, but he beat her to the punch as his vision turned red with fury. In just a few seconds he was at Raye's side, pulling her out of the jerk's arms and pushing her behind him. Then he grabbed the man by the front of the shirt.

"What the hell!" the man yelled. "Who the hell are you?"

Jadeite smirked evilly. "I'm going to be your death if I ever see you around this woman again! So if you're smart, you'll get the hell out of here while you still have a chance."

Evidently the guy was to drunk and stupid to be intimidated. "Who are you, her daddy? She said that she was a free agent. So what makes you think you have a claim to her any more than I do?"

Jadeite felt his hands heat up. Oh what he wouldn't give to light this little prick up like a firework. And he could too. With one little thought he could roast this bastard like a pig. But he knew he couldn't reveal his powers like that. It would cause too many questions.

Instead he snarled. "Just watch it, asshole! You _don't _want to screw with me! Now get out of here before I drag you off somewhere and show you the real meaning of pain. And by the time I'm done they won't even to use your dental records to identify you."

He shoved the man back and turned to grab Raye by the arm before stomping back to the table where everyone else was watching in shock. As soon as they reached the others she jerked away from him. He turned to look at her and saw that her face was crimson in anger. Just great! He rescues her from a potential rapist and he was still the bad guy.

Her mouth popped open and he just knew that she was about to rake him over the coals again. Well screw her and her little games! He was tired of playing around.

"Dammit woman, you're pissing me off," he yelled as he glared at her. "Can't you see I love you?" Then while she stood there, staring at him in shock, he put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against him.

He lowered his head and fastened his lips firmly over hers. Finally! After all of this time he was kissing her! He heard the gasps from their friends and knew that they were getting an eyeful of this, but he didn't care. All that mattered was the fiery woman in his arms. She stood completely still and unresponsive for several long seconds, which worried him a little. Then he felt her hands creep up his chest and smiled inwardly…at least until shoved him away.

Raye stood there, chest heaving as she gulped in breaths, trying to suppress the sobs welling up inside her. Tears burned her eyes as she fought back the urge to break down. How could he do this to her? Her lips felt like they were on fire…and his had felt just as heavenly as she'd known they would, smooth and soft and warm.

And in that moment, she felt her heart fall. It seemed that she was just as doomed in this life as she had been in her last, because despite all of her resisting him, she had fallen hopelessly in love with Jadeite. She couldn't deny it anymore. But it didn't exactly make her happy either.

"How could you?" she finally forced out in a broken whisper. Then, knowing that she was only seconds from losing it in front of everyone, she turned and ran.

Jadeite stared after her for a few seconds before giving chase. He was not going to let her run away from him again. They were going to hash this out, one way or another. He couldn't keep going on like this. He saw her run through a set of doors and rushed after her.

He found himself in an area that was probably used as an outside dance floor when the weather was nice, but it wasn't in use at the moment because of the extreme heat that had lingered into the night. He saw Raye standing several feet away with her arms wrapped around her waist as she sobbed. He flew to her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

Her response was instantaneous. She went wild in his arms, pushing and shoving, even trying to claw and bite him. "Let me go!" she shrieked. "You rotten bastard! Let me go!"

He only tightened his hold on her. "Never!" he declared softly. "I'm never letting you go. We belong together, Raye. Whether you want to admit it or not, you love me as much as I love you. I know you do. I can see it every time I look in your eyes."

"I don't love you! I hate you!" she screamed, and he felt her growing hot against him.

"Then prove it!" he yelled back at her. "Kiss me just one time and then see if you can honestly say you hate me when it's over." He loosened his grip on her slightly.

She glared up at him with her tear filled eyes as she slid her arms around his neck and fisted her hands almost painfully in his hair. "I do hate you!" she growled before she jerked his head down to hers and took his mouth in a deep, scorching kiss.

He let her take control for a few moments, but when she moaned and pressed her body tighter against him as her tongue stroked boldly against his, he knew that his point was made. She was his! He kept one arm securely around her waist while his other hand moved up to cradle the back of her head to hold her still as he took over.

He plundered her mouth deeply as he bent her back slightly. He explored every tiny inch of her mouth, delighting in the taste and feel of her. He felt the moment that she broke. She whimpered low in her throat and her fingers gentled in his hair. They quit pulling and tugging and became caressing as they wound in his curls.

His lips left hers to kiss a fiery path down her neck. He delivered a lick to her collarbone that made her gasp and shudder in his arms before kissing his way back up to her ear. "Do you still hate me, Firefly?" he whispered hotly as his tongue swirled around her lobe. When she didn't answer he pulled back to look down at her. "Well, do you?"

She sucked in a shaky breath. "No. But I should. It can't work out between us. It didn't before."

"But it will this time," he insisted. "Things are different now. Sure we'll have to work at it. We're both hot tempered and emotionally closed off. But don't we owe to ourselves to try?"

"I don't know," she hedged. "What if everything goes wrong again?"

"Ah, my dear little pessimist," he sighed as he kissed the tip of her reddened nose. "You can't think like that. You have to look at the bright side. After everything that has been done to us, here we are, together again. That has to count for something, right? I think we have a bright and happy future together if we just jump in and go for it. What do you say?"

A few tears leaked from her eyes as she nodded. "Okay, Jed. We'll try it and see what happens. But if you screw up I'm going to burn you alive."

He chuckled and pulled her upright to hold her tight against his chest. "That's my Firefly!"

Just then a song came over the speakers that played the music outside from inside the club. It was a song that he'd heard a few times, and it seemed to fit the moment. He began swaying her to the beat as he began singing softly in her ear.

_Don't tell me I'm wrong,_  
_'Cause I've been watching every move that you make._  
_Hearts you steal, in your make up and heels_  
_Trouble for the man that you date._

_Every time you walk in the room_  
_I couldn't ever be sure of a smile_  
_You were never the same way twice,_  
_I'm falling in love_  
_Oh, night after night - oh it's crazy...ooh_  
_So many people who said, ooh_  
_Girl you've got nothing but time_  
_Oh you are a shining star_  
_Don't you worry 'bout what you're leaving behind._

_Every time you walk in the room_  
_I couldn't ever be sure of a smile_  
_You were never the same way twice,_  
_I'm falling in love_  
_Oh, night after night - oh it's crazy..._

_Oh you got to try, try, try._  
_Ah don't you know you've got to try,_  
_Try, try. Oooh_  
_Oh baby you try, oh._

Raye lifted her head during a break in the lyrics to look at him in wonder. "I never knew you could sing."

He grinned down at her. "A certain Martian princess I once knew imparted her love of music to me. And thanks to this modern era I also play a mean guitar."

She rolled her eyes. "Great! I guess next you and Chad will be jamming together."

He chuckled and pushed her head back down to his chest. "Just hush and enjoy the dance." He began crooning to her again as the lyrics picked back up.

_Every time you walk in the room_  
_I couldn't ever be sure of a smile_  
_You were never the same way twice,_  
_I'm falling in love_  
_Oh, night after night - oh it's crazy..._

_Oh you got to try, try, try._  
_Ah don't you know you've got to try,_  
_Try, try. Oooh oh baby you try, oh woah woah try, oh woah woah_

She pulled back slightly to look at him as the music came to an end. "I love you, Jed," she whispered softly.

"I love you too, Firefly," he said just as softly as he bent his head down and took her lips in a gentle kiss.

Neither one of them were aware of the several sets of eyes that were watching them through a crack in the door.

"Yes!" Mina and Serena shrieked together and slapped high fives.

"It's about damn time!" Lita grumbled. "Now maybe Raye will stop being such a bitch all the time."

Amy's face was brick red. "Okay, maybe that's enough spying on them. Let's leave them alone now that we know that they aren't going to kill each other."

"Exactly!" Kunzite agreed as he took Mina by the arm. "Come on. Let's let them have their moment. Heaven knows they deserve it."

Serena whirled around as her friends wandered away with their dates to grab Darien in a huge hug. "Isn't this great? Now we're all back together the way we should be!"

He pressed his lips to her hair and sighed. "Yeah, we're all together."

* * *

Darien eased out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him to keep from waking Serena up. He padded down the hall to his living room and switched on a lamp. He sat down in front of his computer and pressed a key to bring it out of sleep mode, blinking as the screen flared to life.

He opened his e-mail account, ignoring the prompt that informed him that he had a draft waiting to be sent, and started composing a new e-mail. This issue had been bugging him all day, and he was ready to put an end to it. He had been unsure before about which path was the right one to take, and he still wasn't completely convinced that he was doing the right thing, but after spending the evening he just had he felt better about his decision.

In his mind he saw his friend's smiling faces, both the guy's and the girl's. They were all together and happy. He saw Serena as she had been only an hour before, her eyes filled with love as she lay against his chest after they had made love for the second time that night. Yeah, he was making the right decision.

He quickly typed up his message. He read back through it, pleased with what had written. He was reaching for the mouse to press the send key when he heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. He spun around to find Serena standing right behind him, draped in his discarded button down shirt as she read the e-mail over his shoulder. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't sensed her approaching.

Her lips moved slightly as she mumbled to herself as she read. "I regret that I will be unable…Darien! What are you doing?"

He stood up and took both of her hands in his. "You told me to think about it, and I have. I'm turning down Harvard, Serena. I'm not leaving you again."

* * *

**A/N **Uh oh! It seems that just as soon as we get all of the other couples together that we come full circle back to the argument that started this whole story. Will there be trouble in paradise for our favorite prince and princess? I guess we'll see. And yay! Jed and Raye are finally together! I've always considered Mina and Kunzite to be my favorite couple after Serena and Darien, but Jed has always been my favorite general. If anyone is interested, the song that Jed sang to Raye is Try by Blue Rodeo. As anyone in my family can tell you, I have a very diverse taste in music and I listen to all kinds, but there's just something about this song that makes me picture a couple slow dancing to it while trying to come to terms with issues between them. And I thought that adding the element of Jed singing it to Raye added a bit of a romantic touch. Anyhow, I'm off to work on my other stories. Rekindled may update before GT, I'll just have to see how it goes. And since I probably won't get to post again before July 4th, Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! Catch you guys later! Keep dropping those reviews! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	15. Battlefields

**A/N **Hey everybody! Sorry for the wait. If any of you are reading GT and caught the update a few days ago then you know that I have been suffering from some major writer's block lately. But my muses have finally taken pity on me and I'm back to work. I hope I never have to go through that again, because it sucked big time. It's so frustrating when the words won't come out the way you want them to. Anyway, let me toss out some hugs so we can move on. Can you believe we're at over 400 reviews? I'm so excited that I can hardly sit still! BIG HUGS TO:

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**wolfs bloods moon**

**unlockurdestiny**

**Angelstar14**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**Jaguarsolaris**

**Seredhiel05**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**sabina21**

**SammieAtHome**

**BostonBill**

**FanaticArmy**

**jade2nightwing**

**KageNoNeko**

**Chibi Kitt**

**ailzzzz**

**saveme57**

**S dot Serenity**

**x-Ying Ying-x**

**JuliaGulia17**

**Forest Sentry Koneji**

**GoldenDragon326**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**JiLLiAN2548**

**rainbabie**

**xXx LoverGirl xXx**

**sailorashes**

**I'm-A'll-For-It**

**nickybluejess**

**Love-Like-This –3**

**jowinchester**

Tons of hugs, and cookies, and milkshakes to you all! You guys are what inspire me to keep this up. Now as I'm sure you can tell from the title of this chapter, there are going to be conflicts. When we left off last time Raye and Jed had finally hooked up and Serena had busted Darien trying to send an e-mail to turn down his acceptance to Harvard. Let's see what happens.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 15

Battlefields

* * *

"Thanks for the ride! I'll see you later!" Mina told Kunzite in a rush as his SUV pulled up in front of the modest white, two story house. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then jumped out and slammed the door behind her.

"Mina!" she heard her name called almost as soon as her feet touched the concrete. She whirled to see Amy and Lita sprinting down the block toward her.

"Hey!" she said as they approached her. "Do either of you have any idea what is going on?"

"Not a clue," Lita panted as she and Amy ground to a halt in front of her. "I was at the grocery when I got a strange phone call from Serena. All she said was she wanted me to come over right away. She sounded upset."

Amy sucked in a few deep breaths. "Definitely. She sounded like she had been crying when I got the call. I was at the library, but I hurried straight here."

"That doesn't sound like Serena. She's been so happy lately," Mina mumbled, chewing on her bottom lip. Then her eyes widened. "Omigosh! You don't think she might be…"

"If you say pregnant I'll take my shoe off and beat you with it!" Lita interrupted her in a growl. "How come every time one of us has a problem that's the first thing you assume? You act like we're a bunch of sex-crazed nymphomaniacs that run around screwing anything that has a d…"

"Okayyy!" Amy squealed, putting a stop to Lita's tirade. "What Serena and Darien do behind closed doors is their business. And I'm sure that both of them are intelligent enough to make sure that they take the proper precautions to make sure that the timeline stays as it should. Nobody wants to get a nasty house call from Pluto. The point is that we're not going to find out anything by standing around out here."

"You're right, Amy," Mina and Lita muttered together as they all approached the front gate to Serena's house. They paused however at the sight that confronted them.

It looked as if half of Serena's bedroom had exploded out of her window and scattered her belongings on the lawn. Everything from stuffed animals, to CDs, to books, as well as several other various items lay on the emerald grass.

Ilene Tsukino was in the yard, calmly picking up her daughter's things. She looked up with a thankful smile when she heard the gate click and saw the girls. "Oh, am I ever glad that you girls are here!"

"Mama Ilene! What happened?" Mina asked in shock.

Ilene smiled sadly and shook her head. "I haven't gotten the whole story yet, but from what I can tell Serena and Darien must have had a pretty big fight. Serena came slamming in early this morning, crying. And when Darien showed up to try to talk to her a few minutes later she refused to see him. I didn't think too much about it in the beginning because occasional arguments are part of any relationship. But when Serena told her dad to feel free to use his shotgun on Darien I knew it must be serious."

"Whoa!" Lita breathed. "She actually gave Papa Ken permission to pull out the shotgun?"

Ilene waved a hand. "He couldn't even if he wanted to. I hid that horrible thing a long time ago. Anyway, Darien stood out here in the yard, calling up to Serena's window for her to come down and talk to him. That went on for a while, until Serena started throwing things out the window at him. The poor guy finally left a little while ago."

"This does sound serious," Amy mumbled. "I've known Serena to get angry on occasion, but she's not usually one to lose her temper to that degree."

"No, she's not," Ilene agreed. "But in any case, I'm glad she called you girls. I remember when I was younger that it was always easier to discuss guy problems with my friends than it was my mother. So maybe you can get through to her and find out what's going on."

"Well we're sure going to try," Mina replied as she bent down to pick up a plush doll off the ground. All of her super sensitive senses that she used to pick up on people's feelings and emotions were already screaming red alert, but when she recognized the doll in her hand as being the Tuxedo Mask plushie that Serena had spent two weeks worth of allowance on to win out of the crane machine at the arcade back in the early days before she even knew that Darien was the masked hero, those senses shot straight through the stratosphere. That doll was one of Serena's most prized possessions and usually held a place of honor on her bed.

She squared her shoulders in determination. Her princess was having love issues and was hurting. As the scout of love it was her duty to help her as much as possible. She headed for the front door. "Come on, girls! Let's go get to the bottom of this."

Lita and Amy both nodded eagerly and followed her.

As they stepped inside the house they ran into Ken Tsukino as he came out of the kitchen with a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He beamed a wide smile at them when he saw them. "Good morning, ladies! It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Yes sir," they mumbled together as they all fought back the urge to roll their eyes. Of course Serena's father would think it was a nice day. It wasn't that the man had anything against Darien personally, in fact, everyone was pretty sure that he liked and admired Darien. He just didn't want any man near his daughter. So the thought that Serena and Darien were having problems and might be headed for splitsville was better than Christmas Day to him.

"Hey you three! You missed a great show!" Sammy chuckled as he ran down the stairs with an Xbox controller and a game in his hands. "Man! Serena and Darien were really going at it! I think the whole town probably heard them. It was kinda boring at first. Darien was just standing outside begging Serena to come down and talk to him and she kept saying no, but then Darien must have gotten mad because he said something that really set Serena off."

"Really? What did he say," Lita asked curiously, wondering what in the world Darien could have said that would cause Serena to go on a rampage.

Sammy's brow wrinkled in concentration. "Hold on, let me make sure I get it right, cause it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it must have made sense to Serena cause she went spastic. He told her that she needed to climb down off of her crystal pedestal and that she was suffering from a severe case of…what was the word he used? Oh yeah! Beryl-itis. Whatever the heck that is."

The three sets of eyes, two blue and one green, widened in shock. Sammy may not know what it meant, but they sure did. Darien comparing Serena to Beryl was worse than if he had stood up and called her a bitch to her face. Things must have gotten really nasty between them it he'd gone that far.

"Excuse us, Sammy!" all three of them muttered as they dashed by him and headed for the stairs. This scenario was getting worse by the second, and they needed to get to their princess and find out what was going on.

"Thank goodness!" Luna whispered softly from her spot by Serena's door when they reached the upstairs hall. "I ran for cover when things started flying and I got closed out. I've scratched at the door, but she hasn't let me back in."

Mina knocked on the door. "Serena, it's us. Can we come in?" When she didn't hear an answer she reached for the knob and twisted it. It didn't budge. So she knocked louder. "Serena!"

There was still no answer.

"Do you think she left?" Amy asked quietly.

Lita snorted. "Not likely! The only way she could have would have been to transform and go out the window. And I doubt she would risk that in broad daylight and with her mom right outside. She probably just fell asleep or something."

Mina's eyes flared wide as her hyperactive imagination took over. "You guys don't think that she's…done something…do you?"

Amy looked confused. "Done something?"

Mina nodded quickly. "Well, Serenity did kill herself in the Silver Millennium over Endymion."

Lita rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Mina! That was a completely different thing. The guy died while protecting her. She was distraught. But Serena wouldn't turn suicidal over a fight with Darien. Even when he broke up with her a couple of years ago she just got a little depressed. Give her some credit."

"Lita's right," Amy asserted. "Serena wouldn't do anything like that. She's made of stronger stuff than that. You're just being a drama queen."

Mina jiggled the doorknob again. "Maybe I am, but I would feel better if she would come and unlock this door."

"Oh for the love of…" Lita huffed as she elbowed the blonde aside. Then she reached over and plucked one of the bobby pins that Amy had used to pin back the sides of her hair from the blue strands.

"I'm telling you that she's probably passed out," she insisted as she inserted the bobby pin into the small hole on the doorknob and pressed in to release the lock. "Voila!" she announced as the lock clicked and she twisted the knob.

"I've changed my mind. I don't think I want any part of this drama. I'll trust you girls to take care of the situation," Luna stated as she bounded for the stairs.

Mina giggled. "Scaredy-cat!"

The door swung open and they stepped in to find not their emotionally overwhelmed princess snoozing on the bed…they found no one at all!

Lita snickered. "I guess she took a chance and snuck out after all."

An irritated noise rumbled in Mina's throat. "Well what did she invite us over for if she wasn't going to stick around?"

Um…guys…" Amy spoke up then in a shaky voice. As Lita and Mina turned around to look at her questioningly, she raised her hand to point at Serena's vanity table with a trembling finger.

They looked to where she was pointing and their eyes widened in horror. There on the gleaming white surface of the table was a jagged piece of glass. Blood was smeared on the edge and several drops dotted the tabletop.

Mina moaned and sank her hands into her hair. "I told you guys that she'd done something stupid, didn't I?"

"No way!" Lita hissed. "This isn't possible!"

Amy just stared, wide-eyed, at what she didn't need her computer to tell her was Serena's blood.

Then a sound came from the adjoining bathroom that had them all whirling around in fear. It was just a tiny bump, but it was a sound that easily could have been a body slumping down to the tile floor.

They approached the door slowly, shuddering when they saw a smear of blood on the white painted wood. They knew that they needed to check to see what was going on in that room, but none of them really wanted to. Visions of finding Serena lying dead in a pool of blood filled their heads.

After several long, agonizing seconds, Lita took a deep breath and muttered. "Well, here goes nothing."

Just as her hand reached for the doorknob, the door was wrenched open suddenly.

"Ahh!" Serena squealed in surprise.

"Ahh!" Mina, Lita, and Amy all shrieked as well, shocked to see Serena standing there, looking completely unharmed with a towel wrapped around her body and another one around her head.

Then the reincarnated princess began to giggle. "Omigosh! You guys scared the crap out of me! What are you doing hanging around outside my bathroom do like that for anyway? I'm not offering any peep shows today. Besides, I thought you liked guys…or is there something about you three that I don't know about?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

A strangled sound tore from Mina's throat as she grabbed her fellow blonde up in bone crushing hug. "You…you idiot!" she raged. "Do you have any idea what you have put us through?"

Serena stepped back, blinking her eyes innocently. "No. I don't have a clue."

Lita began to chuckle now that the shock had worn off. "Looks like we panicked over nothing."

"Yes, I believe we did," Amy replied, returning to her normally calm, collected self.

But Mina wasn't done with her interrogation yet. "You freaked us out, Serena! We all get an emotional call from you and hurry over here to find half of your stuff laying on the front yard. Your entire family tells us that you've had some big showdown with Darien. We have to pick your lock to get in here. And then we find that!" She pointed to the bloody shard of glass.

"Oh that," Serena shrugged. "I cut my hand when I was picking up the glass from a picture frame that broke." She held up her left hand that was sporting a white bandage. "What did you think I did, slit my wrists or something?"

Mina's eyes slid down and away guiltily. "No."

"Ha! You did!" Serena crowed in conviction. "Geez, Mina! Try to give me some credit."

"That's what I said," Lita grumbled as she sat down on Serena's desk chair.

"Okay, okay!" Amy said in a calming tone. "Now that we have reassured ourselves that Serena is still in the land of the living, why don't we let her tell us what's going on?"

"All right," Serena sighed as she crossed to her bed and sat on it. She curled her bare legs under her as she gripped the towel tightly around her body. "I'm sure by now you've all heard that Darien and I had a little bit of a disagreement."

"That's an understatement," Mina mumbled as she took a seat on the bed as well. "It looked more to me like the attack of the killer stuffed animals from a galaxy far, far away." She looked down where she was still holding the Tuxedo Mask plushie in her hands. She held it out to Serena.

Serena sniffed disdainfully as she grabbed the doll and threw it toward her open closet. "Okay, so I pitched some things at him. I couldn't help it. He made me mad."

Her bedroom door swung open and Ilene bustled in, carrying Serena's belongings in a laundry basket. She smiled around at the girls as she sat it down. "Here we go! I think I got everything." Then her look turned stern. "But let's try to not have a repeat of that temper tantrum. I'll pick your things up once, but I won't do it a second time. If it happens again your stuff can lay out there until you get it yourself."

Serena flushed in embarrassment. "Yes ma'am."

The smile returned to Ilene's face. "Okay. I'll just leave you girls to your chat then. I have some baking to go do. Ken mentioned having a craving for brownies and I need to bake a cake for the charity cake auction. I'll see you girls later."

Amy shook her head after Ilene left. "Your mom is so understanding. My mom would never let something like this slide. She'd be riding me morning, noon, and night until I told her every tiny detail."

Serena let out a tight giggle. "Don't let her fool you. I'll be getting the third degree from her before all is said and done."

"So anyway," Mina jumped in. "Tell us what happened."

Serena sighed. "Okay. Well…" she broke off as a rustling sound came from her open window.

All four heads snapped around as the girls looked in surprise to find Tuxedo Mask perched on a tree branch right outside the window…in broad daylight!

"Serena!" he said in a quiet, but urgent voice. "Please talk to me!"

An angry hiss slid through Serena's teeth. "Darien Shields! What part of _'I don't want to talk to you right now' _don't you understand? I told you that I needed a little time away from you so I can cool down, and yet you keep popping up like a disgusting fungus that won't go away. You're worse than my brother!"

His dark blue eyes sparked in irritation behind his mask. "If you would just stop being so stubborn and listen to me for a minute I…"

"I'm being stubborn!" Serena interrupted him shrilly. "If that's not the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is. You have a head like a brick!"

A black brow arched over the mask. "Are we going to reduce ourselves to petty insults and name calling again? I thought perhaps we could both act like adults this time."

"Ooo! I'll show you adult, you pompous, stuck up, irritating…man!" Serena fumed as her eyes darted around wildly. She spied a single red rose on the table by her bed that had somehow survived her earlier rampage and snatched it up. She jumped to her feet so that she was standing on the bed, still wearing nothing but a towel, as she glared out the window at her boyfriend.

Her hand shook as she pointed the rose at him. "I may not be able to throw this thing as well as you could, but at this close range I don't think I would have any problem hitting the target!"

Tuxedo Mask scrambled back on the branch, his eyes widening in shock. "Are you serious?"

Serena tossed her head, sending the towel wrapped around it flying and her long, wet hair falling down to slap against the back of her legs all the way to her knees. "You better believe it buddy! I'm so upset right now that I can hardly see straight. So unless you want to become a pincushion I would suggest that you beat it until I've had a chance to calm down."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Lita exclaimed, jumping between Serena and the window. "Okay, time out! Serena, you need to chill out before I drag you back into that shower and turn the cold water on you." She turned toward the window. "And I think you need to leave, Darien, at least for now."

She closed and locked the window, shutting out his sputtering protests, and pulled the curtains closed over it. Then she spun back around to pin Serena with a critical look. "All right! Spill it! I need the details so I can decide whether I need to go kick his ass or not."

Serena's expression turned sad as she slumped back down onto the bed again. "No, you don't to run out and beat him up. He really hasn't done anything wrong. It just makes me mad that he's so hardheaded."

"Your brother said that he compared you to Beryl," Mina said in a tone that wasn't quite a statement, but wasn't a question either. She was fishing for information.

Serena cringed. "Well, I kinda deserved that. Earlier I yelled at him and told him that he was worse than Prince Diamond."

"Oh, Serena! You didn't!" Amy gasped.

She nodded miserably. "I did. But I didn't really mean it. It just sort of popped out."

"And I thought Raye was bad about saying things before thinking them through," Mina sighed. "Speaking of Raye, where is she? I figured she would be all over this."

Serena shrugged. "I tried calling her, but she didn't answer. She's probably busy."

"Okay," Lita said calmly as she took a seat on the bed across from Mina and Amy perched on the foot. "Maybe you should start from the beginning and tell us exactly what happened."

Serena drew in a shaky breath as tears began falling from her eyes. "All right. It all started early this morning. I spent the night at Darien's after we left the club and I woke up in the early morning hours alone. I was thirsty so I got up to go get a drink from the kitchen and found Darien at his computer…"

* * *

Darien burst into his apartment and slammed the door behind him. Why was Serena making this so damn hard? She was acting like he had betrayed her or something. He had never promised her that he was going to go to Harvard. He had only promised her that he would think about it. And after spending the last several weeks weighing the pros and cons he had finally come to a difficult decision.

He wanted to go to Harvard, really he did. He had dreamed of having the opportunity to study at a prestigious, Ivy League university such as that since he had first decided that he wanted to become a doctor when he was ten years old. That had been why he had always worked so hard, taking extra classes, even in the summer, so that he could keep pressing forward.

And his hard work had paid off. He graduated high school as valedictorian at the age of sixteen, although both Andrew and Rita had come within one-tenth of a point of beating him. Some of the older students had been disgruntled about being shown up by three young teens that were barely old enough to drive. Then he had thrown himself immediately into college, doubling up on as many classes as he could so that he could hurry up and get all the prerequisites out of the way so that he could move on to his ultimate educational goal…medical school.

And despite everything that had happened to him since he had started college; kidnappings, brainwashings, discovering past lives, meeting his future daughter, fighting bad guys, and dying a couple of times, he had managed to become one of the youngest people ever to start medical school.

And then, last summer, one of his biggest dreams had come true. He had been offered the opportunity to spend a couple of semesters at Harvard. He had been a little leery of leaving then since Nehelenia had been defeated only a short time before, but things had seemed peaceful…really peaceful…for the first time in a long time, so he'd thought it was safe to go.

Serena had been supportive of his decision then, assuring him that although she would miss him, she could handle getting through one school year without him. She had even helped him pack and had come to the airport to see him off. That had been when he had put the pink, heart shaped promise ring on her finger and swore to her that he would come back to her. Then he had calmly boarded the plane bound for America. He should have known that was when everything would decide to fall apart again.

Now here he was, one year later, and he found himself in the exact same position. He had never dreamed that he would be offered another shot at Harvard after Galaxia messed up everything the first time, so he had been more than shocked when he had received the admissions letter. But he didn't feel exactly the same as he had a year ago. His fear that a new enemy would surface as soon as his back was turned outweighed his excitement at being accepted by the school of his dreams. And even though the number of people who could protect Serena should anything happen had grown with the return of his generals, he just couldn't shake his anxiety.

A knock on his door snapped him out of his reverie, and he realized that he was standing in the middle of his living room with his fists clenched at his sides. Hoping that the person on the other side of the door was Serena and that she had finally decided to talk to him, he reached out through their bond to sense her…and felt like he had run into a brick wall. A growl rumbled in his throat. She must still be upset if she was blocking him from sensing her.

He walked slowly toward the door, focusing intently the way Nephrite had recently taught him to try to read the aura of the person on the other side. He definitely didn't want to open it if there were one or more angry sailor scouts out there. The girls were highly protective of Serena, and he had been on the receiving end of their anger on more than one occasion when they felt like they needed to intercede on their princess's behalf.

But fortunately he didn't sense the snapping orange of Venus, the fiery red of Mars, the crackling green of Jupiter, or the icy blue of Mercury. Nor did he sense any of the outer scouts. Of course Amara was so hot headed when it came to Serena that she probably would have come slamming through his balcony door, fully transformed, without a second thought and attempted to kick his ass.

Instead he felt the warm, calm aura that he had come to associate with Andrew. Remembering that he had made plans with his best friend for today, he hurried to open the door.

Andrew blinked for a moment as the door was thrown open, taking in Darien's harried state. Then he began to grin. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Darien shook his head. "No. I've just had a bit of a crazy morning."

A knowing smirk appeared on his friend's face. "Ah! Serena trouble. I get it. So what is it this time? Did you run out of ice cream for her?"

Darien shoved a hand into his hair. "I wish it was something that simple. I finally made up my mind on what I was going to do about Harvard. I decided that I would rather stay here instead of risking leaving again. Serena didn't take that too well."

"Uh oh," Andrew muttered as he wandered into the living room and lounged across one of the sofas. "I get the feeling that this isn't a pretty story. Do you want to talk about it?"

Darien dropped heavily into one of his armchairs. "What's there to talk about? I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. If I don't go to Harvard Serena will be pissed because she thinks I would be giving up the opportunity of a lifetime and may regret it someday. And if I do decide to go she'll send me off with a kiss and a smile, but I know it will tear her apart on the inside. So either way I'm screwed. I'm trying to do what I feel like is best for her. And what thanks do I get? She screams at me and storms out. Then when I follow her she throws things at me and threatens to sic her father on me."

Andrew winced in sympathy. "Ouch! Sounds like she's pretty riled up."

Darien snorted. "You haven't even heard the kicker yet. She threatened to skewer me with one of my own roses…one of _MY _roses! Can you believe that shit!" He was huffing and puffing by now.

"Okayyy!" Andrew exclaimed in surprise at both his friend's anger and the unbelievable scene he was describing. "It sounds like you need to get your mind off things for a while. How about you go change and we'll head to the park for our game of one on one like we originally planned. Maybe the physical exercise will do you some good."

"Perhaps you're right," Darien grumbled as he got up from his seat. Then he snickered. "I still think you missed your calling in life. You should be studying to become a shrink instead of learning how to run a business."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "And have to listen to people spill their problems to me all day long? I don't think so! I have my hands full with enough of that just by hanging out with you and the rest of the crew. Raye alone would make an interesting case study with all of her issues."

Darien snorted a laugh. "That she would. But she did have some kind of a breakthrough last night and decided to finally give poor Jed a chance."

Hazel eyes widened in amazement. "We are talking about Raye Hino, right? Hmm…I wonder how long that will last."

Darien shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

"Darien! What are you doing?" Serena gasped in shock.

Darien stood up and took both of her hands in his. "You told me to think about it, and I have. I'm turning down Harvard, Serena. I'm not leaving you again."

She jerked away from him, her eyes filled with disbelief. "You can't mean that! Darien! This is so important to you. This is what you have been working toward for most of your life. You can't just casually throw it away. You may never get another shot at an opportunity like this!"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Recent events have shown me that I need to reorganize some of the priorities in my life. Getting accepted to a good school used to be the most important thing to me, but that's changed. You are the most important person in my life now, Serena."

"You can not give up Harvard because of me!" she insisted.

He let out a deep sigh. "I'm not doing it _because _of you. I'm doing it _for _you. What if I leave again and another enemy attacks? You may need me here with you."

Her head whipped back and forth. "We don't know that will happen. And if it did, the girls and I would take care of it. You can't give up your life just because something might happen. Believe it or not, I am capable of looking out for myself. I've done it before."

"And at what cost?" he fired back at her. "Sure, you defeated Chaos, but look at what you had to go through to do it. Everybody died! You could have died too, and you looked like you were almost to that point when I came back. For crying out loud, you still have nightmares about it! How can I leave knowing that something like that might happen again?"

Serena's face burned red in anger. " I am _not _a little girl, Darien! I don't need someone to sit around and hold my hand just on the off chance that something _might _happen, nor am I some pampered little princess that needs other people to take care of her!"

Darien's temper snapped. "Yes you are! You're _my princess_! And it's my job to protect you!"

Her blue eyes flared furiously. "That was such a Prince Diamond statement!"

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he exploded.

She tossed her head. "It means that you're sounding just as possessive and obsessed as he did! I am my own person and I don't belong to anyone! I fight my own battles and I sure as hell don't have to have a man to protect me!"

"You sure could have fooled me!" Darien hissed in a low, deadly voice. "Just how many times now have I had to save your butt from danger?"

Her glare was hot enough to fry an egg. "And how many times have I either had to drag you back from death or rescue you from some psycho, obsessed woman?"

Darien let his anger get the best of him. "Well maybe next time you should just leave me dead since I seem to be such a bother, Serenity!"

Serena's temper ran away with her as well. "Well maybe I'll do just that, Endymion!" Then she spun and stomped off to the bedroom.

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

Serena shook her head as she came out of the thoughts of the fight that she and Darien had gotten into in the early morning hours. How had they gone from debating his educational future to fighting about who had rescued whom more times? The only conclusion that she could come up with was that they had both been tired and let their tempers override their judgment.

She did feel bad for some of the things that she had said to him in anger and then screaming and throwing things at him when he had followed her home, but she tried to not let the guilt get the best of her. Darien had hurt her feelings by treating her like a helpless child, and she wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. Which would be easy enough to do if she avoided looking at his eyes. They got to her every time.

"Here, Serena," Lita said as she and Mina returned from a nearby ice cream vendor and held out a double scoop, chocolate cone.

Serena smiled and took it. "Great! And thanks for talking me into coming here, you guys. This is much better than moping around my room."

Amy closed the book that she had been reading and set it aside as she took a vanilla cone from Mina. "Of course it is. You would have only gotten depressed if you sat around and wallowed in your feelings all day."

"True," Mina agreed as she licked at the strawberry ice cream on her cone that was already beginning to melt. "But we should probably try to find something else to do today than just hang around the park. It's already getting hot out and it's not even noon yet."

Lita sat down on the edge of the fountain next to them and trailed one hand through the cool water while she attacked her chocolate cone. "It does feel like it's going to be a scorcher. Maybe we should go swimming or something. That would keep us cool."

Serena nodded. "I say we go by the temple and check on Raye first and see if she wants to join us. It's not like her to not answer the phone."

"Have you tried the shrine's number?" Amy asked.

Serena shook her head. "No. I usually try not to because Raye gets steamed when I use the main line to call her. She always has her cell phone on her anyway."

"Well we'll just have to run up and see her in person," Mina chirped. "It's not like it's far to go. Besides, I want to try to get some details out of her about last night."

Lita snorted. "If you value that blonde hair of yours you'll be careful about how much info you try to weasel out of her. You know that she doesn't like for people to pry into her private life."

But Mina refused to be perturbed. "But I have to find out how things are going between her and Jadeite."

"Did I hear someone talking about me?" a cheerful voice sing-songed in Mina's ear.

The blonde shrieked and almost toppled over into the fountain. And she would have if a pair of bronzed hands hadn't grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Very funny, Jed!" Kunzite growled as he righted his girlfriend.

"Sorry," the golden haired prankster tried to say sincerely, but the grin on his face said that he wasn't really.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lita asked as she looked around at the four men that had appeared unexpectedly.

Nephrite grinned and took a seat next to her. "Do we need and excuse now?" He snuck a bite of her ice cream.

Serena's eyes glittered angrily. "Darien didn't send you four to get close to me since I'm currently not speaking to him, did he?"

"Serena!" Amy gasped. "Darien wouldn't be that sneaky."

Zoicite shook his head. "I have no idea what you are talking about. We were just on the way to the arcade to see if you girls were there. None of us have even spoken to Darien today."

Kunzite nodded. "I know I haven't. Why? Is there trouble in paradise?" His gray eyes shown mischievously.

"No!" Serena muttered. Then she jumped as her cell phone began ringing. She dreaded the thought that it might be Darien and hoped that it was Raye returning her calls, but a quick glance at the screen told her that it was Amara.

She flipped the phone open and answered. "Hello."

Rini's voice came over the line. "Hey, Serena. Where are you at? Hotaru isn't feeling good this morning, so Amara's bringing me back. But I don't want to go to the house if you're not there."

Serena giggled. "Poor Hotaru! What did she do, try to go head to head with you in a junk food eating contest?"

"No!" Rini snapped. "She just feels crappy and has a little fever so she probably caught a summer cold. Now where are you, at Darien's?"

Serena felt a little pang at her question. "Um, no. I'm at the park, by the fountain on the side close to the arcade. Why don't you have Amara drop you off here."

"Okay! See ya soon!" Rini replied and then disconnected the call.

"Rini's on the way here to meet us," Serena announced as she hung up the phone. "When she gets here we can go up to the shrine to grab Raye and then go swimming or something."

Jadeite's blue eyes sparked with interest. "I was just about to ask where Raye was. She hasn't answered her phone all morning, so I figured that she was busy."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Geez! Did a thousand years get you that much out of practice? You share a soul bond with Raye, so you could just try to sense her through the bond and be able to tell what she is feeling."

The blonde man blushed. "I know I could, but she always gets mad at me when I do that. I just got her to agree to trust me last night and I don't want to get on her bad side again. I don't know if she's ready for that step in our relationship yet."

Serena smiled and patted his shoulder. "That's so sweet that you're taking Raye's feelings into consideration. There are a lot of guys out there that don't do that." As she said those words she felt a surge of energy that let her know that there was someone else watching their conversation.

"Um…Serena…" Lita murmured next to her.

"I know," she sighed, and then turned around to look behind her. Sure enough, there was Darien standing a short distance away watching her and the seven other people gathered near the fountain. His dark blue eyes locked with hers and she felt a sudden need to run away.

She jumped up from her seat, clenching her melting, half eaten ice cream cone in her hand. "Uh…I just remembered that I promised my mom that I would help her with some things. So I'll see you guys later…okay?"

There was a blur of movement, much faster than any normal human should move, and then Darien was in front of her. She smacked into him, and he took her firmly, yet gently by the shoulders. "We need to talk, Serena."

She jerked away from him. "No we don't! Not right now. We're both still upset, and I'm afraid that if we try to talk about how stubborn you're being right now that we'll just end up in another fight. So it's probably best that we just leave things alone for now."

He gave her that smirk that used to infuriate her when they first met. "So you're just going to run away, huh? I thought you told me that you've grown up. Grown ups shouldn't run away from their problems."

She poked him in the chest with a finger. "Don't you dare try to turn this around on me, you egotistical jerk! I'm not the one that's acting like a child this time! I'm trying to be mature about this and avoid a lot of unnecessary bickering. But you keep pushing the issue and whining like a four year old."

Darien's face turned red and he seemed to swell. "I have not been whining! I'm just trying to figure out why you are so damn adamant about me leaving! Why do you want to send me away?"

"Because I don't want you to hate me later!" Serena screamed back at him. Her eyes widened when she realized what she had just said out loud and she spun around to try to run away again.

But Darien's hand clamped firmly around her wrist. "What in the world are you talking about?"

She pulled against his hold. "I didn't mean anything!" Her voice rose hysterically as she tried desperately to free herself. "Let me go! Let me GO!"

"Not until you tell me what silly ideas you've got running through that meatball head of yours!" he practically growled.

One second Serena was glaring at him, the next she felt herself being yanked out of Darien's hold and he was stumbling back as another body appeared between them. She gaped at the blonde that stood defensively in front of her.

"Amara!" she gasped.

Darien was startled as well, but he refused to back down from the navy blue eyes that raked over him angrily. "Stay out of this, Uranus!" he snarled.

"No can do, _your highness_!" she sneered back insultingly. "There's no way that I'm just going to stand by and let you manhandle Serena when she clearly stated that she wanted you to let her go."

"It's none of your damn business if I'm trying to have a conversation with my girlfriend!" he snapped back.

Amara's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It sure as hell is my business when I see you acting like a bully toward my princess. So I'm warning you now, back off!"

"Why don't you back off and keep your damn nose out of other people's business!" Jadeite snapped as he jumped to his prince's defense. He had always been the most short tempered of the generals and the first one to jump into a fight.

"Don't push me, Fireboy!" Amara shot back.

"Jed, stand down," Kunzite cautioned.

Jadeite growled low in his throat. "Piss off, Kunz! Uranus may think that she's the baddest bitch around, but I refuse to let her intimidate me!"

Darien placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I appreciate the help, Jed, but I can fight my own battles."

Nephrite grabbed the pissed off blonde by the arm, shooting a dirty look toward Amara. "Come on, Mr. Temper! You better cool off before Zoi and I dunk you in the fountain."

Darien and Amara remained frozen in place, staring one another down as if waiting to see who would break first. Serena, the scouts, and the generals waited motionlessly to see what would happen.

Finally Amara glanced over her shoulder at Serena. "Serena, go get in my car and I'll take you home."

Darien's eyes went as cold as gunmetal. "She doesn't have to go anywhere she doesn't want to."

"Amara," Serena replied gently. "It's sweet of you to offer, but I'm not ready to go home right now. I've already made plans."

The tall, athletic blonde spun around. "Well if you think I'm leaving you here with him then you're crazier than hell! Men can be jackasses, Serena. And right now the so called illustrious Terran prince seems to be the biggest one of all."

Kunzite's sense of duty made him speak up. "There's no need to start throwing insults around. I assure you that my prince meant no disrespect toward your princess."

Mina made a furious slashing motion across her throat, warning Kunzite that it wasn't wise to bring attention to himself. But the damage was already done.

Amara rolled her navy blue eyes. "Men! They think that just because they have a set of balls that they can control everything!"

Nephrite had been able to keep his simmering temper under control until then, but her words made him snap. "You're just jealous because you wish you were a man! You better keep an eye on your pretty little Neptune or some day some guy is going to come along and steal her right out from under your nose."

Lita groaned and slapped a hand over her face. Of all the stupid things that Nephrite could have said, that was the worst. Amara could definitely not be considered one of the world's most affectionate people. She carried herself with an iron hard demeanor and rarely ever let anyone get close to her. The only people she had ever allowed to penetrate her barrier were Michelle, Hotaru, Serena, and Rini, and she was murderously protective of them.

"Would you care to repeat that?" she hissed in a low, deadly voice.

Jadeite's eyes blazed. "He didn't stutter! Maybe you need to go get your ears cleaned."

"That's it!" Amara exploded. "It was bad enough having Darien hanging around, but I knew things were only going to get worse once you four showed back up. Just look at what you have done to the inner scouts!" She gestured to the three girls that were still sitting on the edge of the fountain. "They're just sitting there like it's no big deal instead of protecting their princess. Some guardians they turned out to be!"

Mina jumped to her feet, her blue eyes snapping furiously. "You better watch yourself, Uranus. You're walking a really thin line here, and you're about to step over it. So you better stop now while you're ahead."

Amara raked a contemptuous glare over her. "You don't intimidate me, Venus! All I'm doing is stepping up and doing your job since it seems like you're to wrapped up in daydreaming about the next time you're going to get laid instead of doing your duty."

Lita shot up to come to her friend's defense. "Oh hell no! You didn't just say that, Amara! What's your damn problem?"

Kunzite's expression had turned as hard as concrete. "Do you have a personal issue about my involvement with Mina, Lady Uranus?"

"You're damn right I do!" Amara spat. "I'm half tempted to challenge all five of you pathetic men right now and stomp the shit out of you."

Serena grabbed the enraged scout of wind's arm and begged, "Amara, please stop!"

The tall blonde shook her off. "Stay out of it, Serena. If none of the other girls have the guts to put these no good assholes in their places then I will."

"_KNOCK IT OFF!" _a shrill voice screamed.

All heads whipped around to find Rini standing nearby and surveying the scene with a look of disgust on her pixie face.

Her voice shook when she continued speaking. "What is wrong with you people? Geez! I thought you were all supposed to be adults here, but you're acting like a bunch of squabbling kids, and in the middle of a public park of all places. Talk about not keeping a low profile. Do you realize how much attention you're attracting to yourselves?"

"Well it's not my fault that your father decided to pick this particular place to act like a horse's ass," Amara grumbled.

Rini rolled her maroon eyes. "So Serena and Darien are bickering, big deal! My mom and dad have had their fair share of disagreements in the future too, but they always work it out in the end. I think you should leave and let them take care of their own personal problems. And stop picking on the generals! They aren't doing anything wrong."

Amara crossed her arms and stared at the young princess in disbelief. "Are you seriously trying to order me around?"

"No," Rini sighed with a shake of her head. "It's just that I know how things are supposed to turn out in the future, and I think what you're doing right now is wrong. Everyone is upset right now, so I just think that it's best if you go home to Michelle and Hotaru before something bad happens. All of you guys are my family, and I don't want to see you fight."

"And the voice of a child speaks the truth," Zoicite quoted softly as he took a seat next to Amy.

Her blue head nodded gently. "That's the way it usually goes. Her simple little speech conveyed more than all of the angry words that have been thrown around here ever could."

After a long moment of silence, Amara finally sighed and shook her head. "Fine, I'm going. But you call me if you need me, Serena."

Serena nodded and smiled as she hugged the older woman. "I will. I promise."

Amara chuckled and chucked her under the chin as she stepped back. "Catch ya later, kitten!" Then she patted Rini gently on top of the head before shooting one last warning glance at the men and walking away.

Jadeite's tense shoulders loosened. "Damn that woman has a major stick up her ass, doesn't she?"

Serena let out a shaky giggle, making sure to keep her eyes averted from Darien. "She's just overly protective. I know she comes on strong, but that's just the way she is. She's only trying to look out for me."

"Well she needs to get a life and butt out of ours!" Mina fumed as she sat back down. Obviously she was still steaming over Amara's earlier personal remarks.

"Amen!" Lita agreed as she allowed herself to relax.

Serena jumped as her cell phone began buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and grinned when she saw the number on the screen. She snapped it open and answered, "Hey, Raye!" as she wandered a short distance away to talk.

Kunzite lost his rigid stance as he grinned down at his golden haired girlfriend. "I don't think I've ever seen you quite so fired up. There for a minute I thought you were going to break badass all over Uranus."

Mina sniffed. "Well she would have deserved it if I had. I just don't know what her problem is. Sure, the inner and outer scouts are not the closest of friends, but we've come such a long way in the past couple of years."

"Amara's a man-hater," Rini stated as she stepped up to them. "At least that's what Hotaru and Michelle always tease her about in my time. I don't think that's entirely true though. In the future there are a few members of the male gender that I know she gets along with."

Lita laughed. "Well you certainly put her in her place with your little speech. She shut up real quick after that."

Rini shrugged. "I just told her what was on my mind. I don't know how long I'll be here, but it may not be for very long and I don't want to hear everyone arguing the whole time I'm here." Her eyes cut to Darien. "So what's up with you and Serena anyway?"

"She's just being difficult," he replied shortly as he took a few steps away from the group, signaling that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"Harvard," Jadeite leaned down to whisper in Rini's ear.

Her eyes flared in understanding, but she kept her mouth shut. She knew what decision Darien would ultimately make about his education, but she knew better than to say anything. If she told Serena and Darien anything about the future it could accidentally change the past and affect her time. They were just going to have to figure things out for themselves.

Darien stood a short distance away, tuning out the other's conversation as he watched Serena talking on the phone. He just couldn't figure her out. When they'd had their first argument about him going away to school back several weeks ago he had promised to take his time and think about things before making a final decision, and that was what he had done. He had never promised her that he would decide to go just because she told him too.

Was he completely confident in his decision? No, definitely not. He was still deeply conflicted inside. He wanted this chance, this opportunity. But in order to have that he would have to leave Serena behind, and he wasn't sure his heart could handle that. It had torn him apart to leave her last fall and get on that plane. And sometimes he wondered if he would have lasted the entire time at Harvard if Galaxia hadn't attacked him and stolen his star seed. Part of him said that he would have adjusted, but the other part told him that he would have been on a plane back home within a week.

So this time he had decided to play it safe and just stay put instead of putting them through the emotional upheaval. Besides, things were different now than they had been the year before. The generals were here now, giving him more friends than ever before, and his and Serena's relationship had grown and evolved, bringing them even closer together. They were still exploring the new intimacy between them, and that would be hard to walk away from.

He frowned as he watched Serena's face. She had been all smiles when she had first answered the phone, but as she continued to listen to who he assumed was Raye on the other end of the call her expression had grown constantly more concerned. When her eyebrows flew up he felt a ripple of shock run through him from her through their bond.

He stepped toward her. "Serena?"

She held up a hand to cut him off and then began talking. "Thanks for calling me, Chad. I'll be there as quickly as I can, okay." She hung up the phone.

"Serena, what's going on?" Darien's meter of concern was flying off the charts by this point.

She shook her head and leaned around him. "Hey, girls! We need to get to the shrine right away. Raye needs us. Chad just called and said that her father showed up this morning and he's trying to force her to move back home with him."

The scouts all jumped up in surprise, but it was Jadeite's outburst that caught them all off guard.

"What?" he snarled. "You mean after ignoring her for her whole life that pathetic excuse for a father has decided that he wants her around? That bastard isn't fit for Raye to wipe her shoes on! He deserves to rot in hell after turning his back on Raye and her mom the way he did! I'm going up there to give that son of a bitch a piece of my mind!"

Nephrite grabbed him by one arm while Kunzite took the other and said harshly, "Calm down for a minute! You won't do yourself or Raye any good if you let your temper override your common sense."

Serena nodded. "They're right, Jed. This isn't the first time that her father has tried something like this. He tried to take her away a few years ago, but Grandpa Hino able to put a stop to it because he had legal custody of her."

Lita's green eyes were almost crackling. "But she's seventeen now and old enough to decide where she wants to live. Why would he be pulling this shit now?"

Jadeite quit struggling against his friends' holds. "She told me that her father was pissed when he found out that she's transferring schools next year. She said he probably feels like he's losing what little control he felt like he had over her. The guy's a loser!"

"Well I say we go find out what's going on," Mina declared. "Raye may need our support. And if the all mighty senator thinks he's going to take away one of my best friends then he has another thing coming!"

The four friends, plus Rini, took off running toward Cherry Hill. Jadeite pulled free from Kunzite and Nephrite and was hot on their heels. The four remaining men only waited a moment before giving chase. The generals were going to keep an eye on Jadeite and make sure that he didn't do something stupid while Darien was going to keep Serena in his sights. They still needed to have a long talk, and he wasn't going to let her out of his sight until they did.

In just a few minutes they were running past the stuffy looking chauffer that was leaning up against the fender of a sleek, black limousine at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Hikawa Shrine. The middle aged man snorted in disgust at the sight of the ten people clambering up the stairs.

"Young people today have absolutely no manners," he muttered.

Serena and Jadeite were the first ones across the courtyard, with the others close behind. They found Grandpa Hino and Chad both huddled near the door to the living room, listening through the thin paper door to whatever was going on inside.

Chad grinned and jumped off the porch to greet them in a whisper. "Hey! Glad you could make the party. It's been quite a show so far. Raye is really letting her dad have it and she's not holding back at all. It's been a blast."

Grandpa made an almost silent shushing sound and then beckoned everyone forward, holding a finger to his lips to indicate that they should be silent.

Everyone crept forward to listen.

* * *

Raye glared at the man sitting across the table from her. His three piece suit, carefully knotted tie, and perfectly gelled and styled hair seemed woefully out of place in her grandfather's average looking living room.

The senator twitched angrily. "Stop looking at me like that, Raye!"

"Looking at you like what?" she asked in a fake, innocent sounding voice.

He banged a hand down on the table. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, young lady! I am your father, and I demand to be treated with the respect that I deserve."

A shrill, hysterical laugh burst from her. "The respect that you deserve? That's a laugh! Why should I respect you? You've never been my father. All you ever were was a sperm donor that just happened to get my mother pregnant! A father is supposed to be there for his family, and you never were! I don't even know why you bothered coming here. You don't care about me or what happens to me."

His face flushed red in anger. "You know exactly why I am here! I was content to leave you alone as long as you behaved yourself because it seemed like that was what you wanted. But this rebellious nature of yours now seems to be spiraling out of control and I won't have it!"

"My rebellious nature!" she sneered. "I don't think that I have done anything that even remotely qualifies for being considered rebellious."

He stared down his nose at her. "Haven't you? First you decide to leave a perfectly reputable academy so that you can go get a second rate education at a public school and then I get to hear from one of my interns that you were seen at a club last night, dressed like a tramp and in the company of several men that looked to be older than you. I even have reports that you were seen outside kissing one of the men. This is unacceptable behavior!"

"Are you spying on me now?" she fumed. "I'm surprised that anyone that works for you would even know what I look like! It's not like it's common knowledge that I am your daughter. I don't exactly broadcast the news about who my father is because I don't want to live with the shame! And for your information, I was at that club with all of my friends last night."

"Hmph!" he huffed. "So you're still hanging around with those girls, huh? They're probably the root of all of this. I should have put a stop to it years ago. You may not want to acknowledge it, but our family is very prominent and you must be careful who you associate with."

Her eyes flared. "You're just worried about your precious social standing!"

"You're damn right I am!" he roared. "I have worked hard all of my life to get to where I am today, and I'm sure as hell not going to let it all fall apart because my daughter thinks it's cute to go out and act wild!"

"You are such a snob!" she snapped. "Have ever bothered to even learn who my friends are. I think you may be surprised to learn that they come from pretty well known families themselves. Let's see! There's Serena Tsukino, her father Ken is a well-known magazine editor, maybe you've heard of him. Then there's Mina Aino, you've probably met her father many times since he's a popular diplomat. I'm sure you wouldn't want either one of them finding out what a snake you are. It could be bad for your reputation if the word got out."

She took a moment to gloat over the way his face had paled slightly as had started ticking off her friends. Then she continued. "Then we have Amy, whose mother, Dr. Anne Mizuno, is one of the most respected doctors at Tokyo General. And last, but not least, is Lita Kino, whose parents have passed on, but they used to own one of the most exclusive restaurants in town. In fact, I know that they even did catering for you on several occasions. So I think I've done a pretty good job of choosing who my friends are, at least by your standards. But I'm not stuck up enough to choose my friends based on who their parents are. I value and care for them because of who they are on the inside."

The senator seemed to pull himself together. "It doesn't matter who your friends are. The point is that you're bordering on the edge of being out of control and I won't stand for it. That is why you are going to go and pack up your personal belongings, say goodbye to your grandfather, and then come home with me. I am going to put a stop to this foolishness now. You will remain enrolled in your current school and finish out your high school education there."

She shot to her feet. "Juuban High was good enough for mom to attend! Why isn't it good enough for me?"

A cold expression settled over his face. "Don't you dare bring your mother into this conversation!"

"I will too!" she screamed at him. "You sit there and act like you are so perfect! But you were a lousy father and a horrible husband! It's no wonder mom died the way she did, because you broke her heart! Did you ever love her at all? Did you?"

Before she could blink, she found her arm grabbed in a tight grip and was shaken roughly. Her father's face was only inches from hers as he growled, "Don't you ever question me about how I felt about Hisana! Yes, I loved her, but we just weren't compatible. We were too different. Now I'm tired of playing games with you, little girl. Go and collect anything that you want to take with you, or I will drag you out of here right now just the way you are. Do I make myself clear?"

A red haze covered Raye's vision as she glared at the man who dared to call himself her father. She grinned in satisfaction when he jerked his hand away and shook it as if he had been burned. "This conversation is over. I think you should go now," she hissed.

He raked his furious gaze over her. "I guess you have more of me in you than I thought. Fine, I'll go. But know this, if I walk out that door I'm washing my hands of you. I hope you've been thrifty with all the money I've given you over the years, because you won't see another penny from me. We are through! Do you hear me? And I don't want you crawling to me later on if you get in trouble. You've made your bed. Now you have to lie in it."

She turned her back to him. "Goodbye, father."

The senator turned and stormed out the door. He paused on the porch, taking in the sight of the large group of people that had congregated during his meeting with his daughter. He barely spared any of them a passing glance, but his eyes did linger for a few seconds on the young blonde man that was currently pinned to the ground by two larger men. Those smoldering blue eyes actually caused a shiver to ripple down his spine.

Then he turned to face the small, furious old man that was glaring daggers at him. "I'm done with her. She's your problem now."

"Raye has never been a problem," Grandpa Hino replied in a level voice. "She is a very special young woman, much as my daughter was. You have always been blind to that fact. But don't worry; she'll be in good hands. I will continue to care for her as I have since the day you decided that you couldn't be bothered with a gifted little girl and gave her to me."

"Hmph!" the enraged senator huffed and then strode away without another word.

After several silent, tension filled moments Jadeite growled, "Kunz, Neph, let me up! I'm not going to go after the bastard, even though he deserves it. I just want to go check on Raye."

Kunzite and Nephrite let him up slowly, but they stayed wary and watchful in case he changed his mind and decided to go after the senator. An angry Jadeite was a dangerous Jadeite. And in the frame of mind he was in right now he just might decide to light Raye's father up like a firecracker.

But Jadeite's only concern at the moment was Raye. He didn't know if she had done it on purpose or if it was because of the ordeal that she had gone through, but the bond between their souls was wide open and he could feel her turbulent emotions crashing through him.

He hopped up on the porch and approached the door carefully. He knew that she was in a volatile state and wasn't sure what kind a greeting he would receive. Her past self had always felt free to show her emotions to him, but the relationship between them now was still new. His presence might not be welcome.

"Raye," he said softly as he stepped into the room and saw her standing on the far side of the room with her back toward him. She held her body stiff, but she had her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "Firefly, are you okay?"

She turned slowly to look at him and he saw the tears shining in her eyes. After staring at him for a moment they spilled over and she cried, "Jed!" before she flew across the room to throw herself into his arms.

"Shh," he told her softly as he almost crushed her to him. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here for you."

She let loose and let her tears wet the front of his shirt. After a few minutes she raised her head to look at him with reddened eyes. "I need to go to the fire. Will you come with me?"

He wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks with his thumbs and smiled. "Of course I will. Let me just tell the others that you're okay and to go ahead with whatever they have planned."

She stepped back with a guarded look. "Everyone's here? I don't want to see them right now. Not while I'm like this."

He gave her an understanding look. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Just sit tight and I'll be right back."

He stepped back outside where several pairs of anxious eyes swung to him. "She's upset but okay," he said. "Why don't you guys take off and go do something. You all know how she gets when she's like this, so she's really not in the mood for company right now. I'm going to stick around for a bit. She wants to meditate."

Grandpa nodded. "That's probably the best thing for her. I'll leave her in your capable hands. Let's go, Chad. We're due for a rush soon, and those charms won't sell themselves." He grabbed the younger man by the sleeve of his robe and pulled him away.

Serena looked at Jadeite, worry clouding her blue eyes. "You tell Raye to call me if she needs anything, okay."

He nodded. "I will." Then he hurried back inside.

Raye had disappeared from the living room, but he wasn't concerned. He knew exactly where to find her. He slid open the door to the fire chamber, and sure enough, he found her already kneeling in front of the Great Fire. He slipped inside and then quietly knelt beside her. Her eyes were closed, so he was careful to avoid disturbing her. But he could still feel her conflicting emotions so he let his spiritual powers surge, hoping that they could offer her support and guidance as she sought the comfort of the fire.

After a minute her eyes opened and she turned to look at him. The violet depths were dry now, though still slightly reddened. And to his surprise a tiny smile played around her lips.

He reached out to brush her dark bangs back. "How are you doing, Firefly?"

She sighed. "Better now that you're here. I've been dreading this day for years, but I always knew that I would have to have it out with him sooner or later. But now that it's over I'm relieved. I finally stood up to him and told him exactly what I thought."

He chuckled. "You certainly did. I think people a mile away could hear you."

She winced. "How much did you hear?"

"Most of it," he replied with a shrug. "I wanted to barge in the moment I got here, but I figured that this was something that you needed to do for yourself. I was fine until right there at the end when he threatened to take you away. I wasn't going to let that happen. Kunzite and Nephrite had to practically sit on me to keep me from charging to your rescue."

She shook her head with a tiny laugh. "Once a general, always a general. But I'm hardly a damsel in distress you know."

"Oh, I know," he agreed. "Call it male chauvinism or whatever you want, but I will always feel the need to protect you, my lady."

Her face, already flushed from the heat of the fire, turned a deeper shade of pink as she leaned her head against his shoulder and whispered, "Thank you."

He smirked. "Any time."

They lapsed into silence again as they gazed into the dancing flames, both of them taking in the peace and quiet of the moment. Jadeite was in a daze, his mind bordering on the line between the physical and the spiritual world, when he felt a light kiss land on his cheek.

He looked down to find Raye looking up at him such a tender expression that it took his breath away. He cupped her cheek in his palm as he told her softly, "I love you, Raye."

She leaned into the caress. "I love you too, Jed."

He dipped his head down and captured her lips in a gentle, exploratory kiss. He couldn't help but grin to himself when she melted against him and wrapped her arms around his neck to twine her fingers into the golden hair at his nape. He licked lightly at her lips, and was rewarded when she sighed and opened for him.

They were so caught up in each other that neither one of them noticed when the door slid open a crack to reveal a pair of dancing brown eyes. After a second, it closed again.

Grandpa Hino walked away from the fire chamber with an extra bounce in his step. He looked up to the blue, cloudless sky and whispered, "I'm proud of her, Hisana. And I know you are too. Kami-sama blessed us the day he delivered her into our lives. She is strong and independent, but she won't be alone. She has finally discovered love. I just know that the two of them will be amazing together and that they will go far in life."

A sudden breeze blew through the grounds, rustling the leaves of the sakura trees and causing Phobos and Deimos to caw loudly as they took flight. But grandpa closed his eyes and smiled as he heard a sound carried on the wind. It was a sound that he hadn't heard in a long time. It was the sound of his daughter's laughter.

A few seconds later it was mirrored by the sound of Raye laughing from inside. "Jed! Stop! That tickles!"

The old man opened his eyes and looked around in satisfaction. Yes, right now his life was pretty close to perfect.

* * *

"I just don't get it!" Serena fumed as everybody reached the bottom of the shrine steps. "What in the world could ever make any man turn his back on his own child? I could never imagine my dad ever abandoning me and Sammy the way Raye's father did her. The man must be insane!"

Amy shook her head. "Some people just lack the parenting instinct. It doesn't make them bad people, just bad parents."

"I'd still like to wrap my love chain around his neck a few times," Mina growled ferociously.

"Amen, sister!" Lita crowed, giving the enraged blonde a high five. "It's too bad that Raye would never let us go after him. He'd have nightmares for the rest of his life after we got through with him."

Darien, Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoicite stood quietly to the side, grinning as they watched their girlfriends rant and rave on Raye's behalf.

"They're a bloodthirsty bunch, aren't they?" Nephrite chuckled.

Kunzite nodded. "Yes they are. I had forgotten until today just how dangerous it can be to anger a Venusian."

Zoicite snickered. "Even Amy is growing indignant, and it takes a lot to make her mad."

Darien snorted. "Serena's the one you have to keep an eye on. Trust me. She can be the most vicious of the group when she sets her mind to it. Take it from someone that had to spend all morning dodging the objects she was throwing at me."

Three sets of eyes widened at his statement and he nodded enthusiastically. "It's true. When she gets into a full-blown temper, nothing and nobody is safe. I'm just glad that she didn't decide to drop a TV on my head." He turned his gaze to his currently estranged girlfriend, who now had their future daughter locked in a stranglehold of a hug.

"Don't worry, Rini," Serena was almost cooing to the flailing, pink haired girl in her arms. "Nothing would ever make me walk away from you like that. I promise I will always try to be the best mother I can be."

Rini was desperately trying to gasp for air. Her face had already bypassed blue and was fast approaching purple. With a strong twist of her body, she broke the hold of the confining embrace and stumbled back a few steps. She rubbed her neck as she glared at the blonde.

"God, Meatball Head! Are you trying to kill me?" she growled irritably. "Murdering your child is not exactly going to get you nominated as mother of the year."

"Sorry! Sorry!" Serena apologized quickly. "I overreact sometimes, you know. Let me make it up to you. How about we go swimming? The other girls and I were talking about it right before you showed up."

Rini's face immediately brightened. "Really? That sounds great! I already have my suit with me and everything." She hitched up her shoulder that had her backpack slung over it.

Darien saw his chance to make a move and took it. "Hey, Rini? Why don't you go ahead with Mina, Lita, Amy, and the guys. Serena and I will be along in a few minutes."

Rini looked back and forth a few times between the determined looking Darien and the angry looking Serena. Her mouth opened like she was about to say something, and then she snapped it closed. She gave a quick nod and turned to walk away.

After a moment the scouts and generals silently followed her, casting wary looks back over their shoulders at their prince and princess, who seemed to be locked in a silent battle.

Neither one of them spoke until the others were out of sight. Finally, Darien took a deep breath and began. "Serena…"

"Don't, Darien," she interrupted him in a tired tone. "Just…don't. I don't know how much more I can handle today, okay."

He folded his arms across his chest. "I just want to talk to you. I don't think that's asking too much, do you?"

She threw her hands up in the air. "Look, I get it that this is your life and your decision to make, okay. I get it. I'm sorry that I overreacted. It's not my place to decide what you do with your life. I'm going to butt out from now on and let you make your own choices without any interference from me."

His dark blue eyes narrowed on her. "We always discuss everything together. I thought that was what our relationship was all about. We talk things out and try to come to a mutual decision."

"I thought so too," she snapped back. "But then I catch you on your computer sending an e-mail about a decision that you made on your own without consulting me about it, so I guess my opinion isn't all that valuable after all."

"Of course your opinion matters," he growled as he shoved a hand through his hair. "I always want to know what you're thinking."

She placed her hands on her hips and straightened up to her full height, which was still several inches shorter than him. "Yeah, you want my opinion about the little things, like what movie to watch or what to have for dinner. But when it comes to the big things you always try to keep me in the dark unless you absolutely have to let me in. I doubt you would have even included me in bringing the generals back if you hadn't needed my help to do it."

He opened his mouth to deny her words, but then stopped as he thought about it. Would he have excluded her if he could have accomplished restoring the generals to life without her power? His first instinct was to say no, but then he made a horrifying discovery inside himself. She was right. If he could have pulled it off alone he would have and left her completely oblivious until everything was done.

"I rest my case," Serena said softly as she turned to walk away.

He lunged forward to grab her hand. "Serena, wait!"

She turned her head to look at him, her eyes held sadness and wariness. "I'm sorry, Darien. But I think we both need to stop and think about where we want our relationship to go from here. You have always been my protector, but you can't shield me from everything in the world. Life is hard, and sometimes we have to make tough decisions. I want to be able to stand by your side as your equal and help you make those decisions together. But I can't do that until you stop treating me like I am too fragile to face anything that you think might be unpleasant. You can't play the hero forever."

He made a sound of irritation low in his throat. "This isn't about me trying to play the hero. This is about making sure that you are safe. I'm not trying to come on like an overbearing chauvinist or anything, but our lives and our futures are entwined. I know that you can take care of yourself, but I still feel the need to do everything that I can to make sure that you are taken care of so that we can someday make it to the future that awaits us. I love you too much to chance losing you."

She shook her head in frustration. "I love you too, Darien. And that's why I'm looking out for you as well. I want you to make this decision based on what is best for you, not because of me." She held up a hand to cut him off as he began to speak. "No, hear me out on this. Would you be having such a hard time making a decision about whether to go to Harvard or not if you had never met me?"

"Serena, be serious," he groaned.

Her eyes flashed. "I am being serious! Just answer the question! If my test paper hadn't hit you in the head that day and got us to bickering, what would your decision be?"

He snorted. "We would have met eventually through Andrew since we both hang out the arcade so much, so it's a moot point."

"Okay then," she said, whirling around to face him fully and sending her long golden pigtails flying in an arc around her. "Let's try this then. Even if we had met and ended up together, if I was just a normal girl and not a reincarnated princess and you were just a regular guy, would you give up Harvard so easily?"

"I still would have a hard time leaving you," he grumbled. But when she raised a brow at him he said, "Okay! I would probably still end up going! But the point is that we are not normal people, Serena."

"Sure we are," she told him. "I am Serena Tsukino. I'm almost seventeen and soon to be a junior in high school. And you are Darien Shields. You're going on twenty and you are an excellent med student with a promising career as a doctor in front of you. That sounds pretty normal to me."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not that easy and you know it! There's a lot more to us than that. Trouble always seems to find us because of our powers. Every time we defeat one enemy and we think the battle is over another one seems to pop up. What if I leave again and a new enemy shows up?"

"Then we would deal with it," she argued back. "But we can't revolve our lives around _what ifs_. Unlike other people we have a general idea what our future holds. But do you think I'm just going to sit back and do nothing until Crystal Tokyo decides to arrive? No! This is my life, not Princess Serenity and not Neo Queen Serenity's! I don't exactly know what I want to do with it yet, but it's mine. And I want you to live your life the way you want, not by what Endymion wants. And if you decide that going away is not the best thing for _you_ I will support you. I don't want to be your deciding factor in this and have you hate me later on for standing in your way."

Comprehension sparked in his eyes. "So that's what you meant earlier at the park. Do you honestly think I could ever hate you, especially over something like this? You are my life."

She shook her head. "No. I am your soul mate, but I'm not your life. Your life is your own, and I want to see you live it to the fullest. I won't lie to you by saying that I wouldn't be sad if you decided to leave, but I would also be happy that you were getting the chance to what you've always dreamed of."

The tight hold that Darien had on his temper snapped. "Damn it, you are one stubborn woman! You just aren't going to let this go, are you? You tell me that it's my decision to make, and then when I make it you start nagging me if it's not the decision that you want me to make. So tell me, Serena, do you really want me to be in charge of my own life, or is it all a ruse so that you can dictate it for me?"

She jerked as if he had just slapped her, her eyes widening for a moment before her entire expression turned angrier than he had ever seen it. "How dare you accuse me of trying to run your life! All I am trying to do is be supportive, but you keep brushing off everything I say like it's nothing!"

"I do not!" he yelled. "I thought you had grown up, but right now you're acting like that spoiled, whiney, fourteen year old girl all over again!"

Tears burned Serena's eyes, but she refused to let them show as she fired back. "I thought you had changed too, but now I see that you are still the same cold, emotionless bastard you always were!" Then she whirled and ran as fast as she could without giving away her superhero identity.

Darien stared after her until the ends of her golden streamers of hair disappeared around a corner. He felt bad about what he had said. He knew that Serena had nothing but his best interests at heart, but he'd let his temper override his common sense. A part of him demanded that he go after her and do whatever he could to make things right between them, but his stupid pride held him back. He didn't feel that he should crawl to her, groveling for forgiveness. They had both said some nasty things to each other, so they were both at fault.

He walked away in the opposite direction that Serena had taken. They probably both needed a little time to get away and think about things. After that maybe they would both be calm enough to try to talk this through again rationally.

He wasn't overly concerned. After all, he and Serena had a long history of having spats between each other. Granted, this was quite a bit more serious than their normal disagreements, but they would work it out. They always did. He would just go home and try to relax for a while and Serena would probably go to Mina's and indulge in some female ranting with her friends. By tonight they would be ready to give it another try.

At least that was what he thought until he was woken up from a nap several hours later by the sound of his cell phone ringing. Bolting up in bed he looked around, realizing that the sun was setting and nighttime was rolling in.

Pissed that he had slept for so long, he reached for the phone on the bedside table. He flipped it open and answered with a harsh, "Yeah!"

After a moment of silence, Rini's hesitant voice replied, "Darien?"

He rubbed his eyes and forced his tone to be more cheerful. "Hey, sweetie. What's up?"

She huffed a breath over the line. "Are you and Serena not coming over to Mina's after all? The rest of us have been here all afternoon. Even Raye and Jed showed up hours ago. Did you guys change your minds?"

Alarm bells began ringing in the back of his head. "You mean Serena never got there?"

"Nuh unh," Rini mumbled. "But why would she had been coming alone? I thought you guys were together."

"We, uh…had a …disagreement," Darien muttered lamely.

"Figures!" Rini snorted. "I've always said that my parents are out to make bickering a new Olympic sport."

"Just be quiet for a moment," Darien told her as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the bond between him and Serena. More than likely she had gone home and had fallen asleep just the way he had and was safe and sound in her room, but it didn't hurt to check.

His eyes flew open a minute later in shock at what he found. He heard a deep voice rumbling in the background on Rini's end and asked, "Is that Kunzite I hear? Put him on."

He heard a shuffling noise and Rini telling Kunzite that he wanted to talk to him. A few seconds later the head general's calm, even voice came over the line. "Darien, is everything okay?"

Darien shook his head as if he thought Kunzite could see it through the phone. Then he managed to reply, "No, things are not okay. Serena and I had a fight earlier and it got pretty bad. In the end she ran off and I walked away. I thought I'd give her a few hours to chill out. But now…" his voice trailed off.

"Now what?" Kunzite demanded in a concerned voice.

"I can't feel her," Darien forced out in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "I can't sense her at all through our bond. It's almost like she has disappeared from the face of the planet. It's like…like she doesn't even exist anymore."

Kunzite made a small noise of surprise, but tone remained even. "Just sit tight for a few minutes. I'll get everyone together and come to your place. I'm sure we'll be able to find her in no time."

Darien was already on his feet, striding down the hall to his living room and the balcony doors. "I can't wait, Kunzite. I have to go and find her. What if something happened to her? I'd never be able to live with myself if it did."

"Calm down and don't overreact. I bet…" Kunzite began lecturing. But Darien disconnected the call in mid-sentence and shoved the phone into the pocket of his jeans. He jumped up onto the railing as his power surged around him. In the blink of an eye he had become Tuxedo Mask and leapt to the roof of a neighboring building.

As he quickly traveled the rooftops, searching for his love with all of his physical and mental senses, he kept saying to himself, "Please be okay, Serena, please! I don't think I would be able to go on living if something happened to you. I'll go to Harvard and become the doctor that I want to be if it makes you happy. And I'll be doing it for myself as much as you. Just please don't leave me all alone in the world."

But no matter how much he called out, Serena's end of their bond stayed blank

* * *

Hours passed, and there was still no sign of Serena. Everyone had joined in the search, breaking off into pairs to look for the missing princess. Sailor Mini Moon had joined her future father, and together they combed the city, searching out every spot they could think that she could possibly be. They hit Starlight Tower, the park, her old middle school, the high school, and the scenes of every battle that they could think of. But she was nowhere to be found.

In the wee hours of the morning they congregated back at Darien's apartment to try to regroup. Nerves were stretched tight, and tempers were short.

"I don't get it!" Raye growled. "How can she simply drop off the radar like that? Even the fire wouldn't tell me anything when I asked it."

Amy shook her head as she typed on her computer. "Don't feel bad. I can't pick up on anything either. It's very strange. I should be able to pick up on the Silver Crystal's energy signature, but it's not showing up. It's almost like…"

"Like what?" Lita insisted when Amy paused.

The blue haired girl shook her head. "It's as if she's deliberately blocking the power of the Silver Crystal so she can't be found."

Zoicite looked over her shoulder at the screen and asked softly. "She wouldn't do that, would she?"

"Of course not!" Nephrite scoffed. "So she got angry and ran off for a while. But Serena wouldn't hide herself away like this when she knows how much it would worry everyone. She's too sweet for that."

"She might," Kunzite disagreed. "People can do uncharacteristic things when their emotions are running high."

"Shh! You guys are going to wake Rini," Mina fussed in a quiet voice as she tucked a blanket up closer around the sleeping girl on the couch. She brushed back a few strands of the soft pink hair and sighed in relief that the girl still appeared to be solid. That was a good sign. As long as Rini still existed, that meant that Serena was okay. She looked up with a glare as a loud squawking came from the other side of the room. "Jed!"

The blonde man looked up sheepishly. "Sorry." Then he went back to fiddling with the device before him. He was still fascinated with all things electronic in this world, and when he had found the old police scanner tucked away in one of Darien's cabinets he couldn't help but play with it. If nothing else it helped to relieve his nerves.

"Something's wrong," Darien muttered from where he was standing by the glass doors that led out to the balcony. "Serena's gotten mad and blocked me out before, but never this completely for this long. It's been over twelve hours since I've seen her. This isn't right."

"Well you did say that you two said some pretty harsh things to each other. Maybe she just needed to get away for a while," Raye offered.

Darien shook his head. "She wouldn't do that and you know it. Sure, she might go and pout for a couple of hours, but even if she wasn't ready to deal with me she would go to you girls."

"And we're sure she didn't go to the outer scouts?" Amy asked.

Lita nodded. "Pretty sure. Rini called and talked to Hotaru earlier and she said that she hadn't seen Serena since the arcade yesterday. So unless the girl is a good actress, I have to believe her."

Mina sighed. "I just hope Hotaru keeps her promise not to tell Amara about Serena being missing. The last thing we need is another confrontation with her, and this would set her off big time."

The generals all nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

Darien turned his gaze back outside to the dark night. Serena was out there. He knew it. He just had to figure out how to find her. Then he felt something. It was just for a brief moment, but he swore that he felt her. But it felt wrong. He expected to feel sadness and possibly still some anger from his love. But what he had just experienced had been fear and pain.

He continued to stare out at the star spangled sky as he let the voices in the room behind him fade away. He concentrated as hard as he could on locating that tiny speck that had brushed him, but once again he felt nothing.

After several frustrating minutes he growled and reached for the door. "I'm going back out."

Kunzite looked at his friend and prince in concern. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We've looked everywhere we can think of already."

"Then I'll look again!" Darien roared. "I don't care what I have to do! I'll tear this whole damn city apart if I have to in order to find her! That's all that matters to me!"

Just then a burst of static came from the police scanner, making Jadeite grin and cheer, "Hey! I got it working! Who's the man?"

"Oh please!" Raye grouched, but her violet eyes looked fondly at the preening blonde.

Then a voice broke through the static on the police scanner.

"This is unit 241 requesting assistance at Juuban Park. We responded to a call that someone heard screams coming from southern section of the park. Upon arrival we found the body of what appears to be the victim of a mugging gone bad. The victim is female and looks to be between 16-18 years of age with blonde hair. There is evidence to suggest that she was raped before being brutally stabbed multiple times. It looks like she fought back pretty hard, but she was already dead by the time we got here."

Darien looked wildly toward the couch where Rini was sleeping. The mugging victim couldn't be Serena, because Rini was still here, right? That had to mean that she was okay. But then again, when he had been taken by Nehelenia and the timeline had begun to warp; it had taken Rini several hours to disappear.

As he watched his sleeping future daughter, he saw her grimace in her sleep as she rolled onto her side and whimpered pitifully, "Momma?"

He sucked in a deep breath, trying to regain his rational thought. Okay, so blonde hair wasn't common in Japan, but it wasn't unheard of. And Serena and Mina were definitely not the only blonde teenage girls around. It just had to be a coincidence.

But then he remembered the fear and pain he had felt from that light touch of aura several minutes before. Had that been him feeling the last spark of Serena's life as she had been murdered?

"No!" he whispered as he felt his knees give out and he slumped to the floor. "It can't be her! It just can't be!"

* * *

**A/N **Okay, I know that is a bit of a cliffie, but this story is supposed to tie into the Lunar Princess Saga, so you guys know that I'm not going to kill Serena off or anything. I would never do that to her…actually, I take that back because I am working on another story where Serena dies at the beginning, but that's a whole different thing all together. I ended the chapter here just to indulge in my sick need for drama. But I hope I put enough comedy to offset it just a little. Anyway, in the next chapter we'll find out where Serena's been and see what we can do about patching up her and Darien's relationship. I like to see them squabble sometimes, but I don't like it when they are seriously fighting and upset. They are just too cute together to keep them apart for long. Next up on my agenda is to update _Rekindled_, so Dark Endy haters beware, because he's about to step up his game. I can't help it! Good Darien is hot, but Evil Endymion is just flat out sexy! LOL! So I'll catch you guys next update. Remember, reviews are loved, appreciated, and encouraged, so feel free to drop me one. Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	16. The Importance of Being Unselfish

**A/N **At last! I didn't think I would ever get this chapter posted. It's almost been like it has been conspiring against me or something. First I lost part of it when the power went out unexpectedly and had to rewrite it, which ended up making it longer than it originally was, but you guys may like that. Then when I tried to post it yesterday my internet decided to take a hiatus for a while. But hopefully everything will fall into place now because I know a lot of you have been waiting to see what happens next. Okay, so long chapter here. The first part, of course, will deal with _Where in the World is Serena Tsukino?_ After that I decided to give all the happy little couples some time as well, including one that you may or may not have been expecting to see in this fic. So let me get out my hugs and we'll get to it. BIG HUGS TO:

**silvermermaidprincesskerry**

**James Birdsong**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**Chibi Kitt**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**jade2nightwing**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**saveme57**

**sabina21**

**Puella Pulchra**

**Seredhiel05**

**JuliaGulia**

**wolfs bloods moon**

**Pantherfan16**

**AyameRose**

**nickybluejess**

**Angelstar14**

**KageNoNeko**

**idfcv**

**xxNightShade12**

**BostonBill**

**living-the-future**

**Tiny2008**

**DizzyDiana**

**GoldenDragon326**

**MExTRUNKS4ever**

**R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**AnimeGurl9871**

**rainbabie**

**unlockurdestiny**

**Anonymous**

**SlackerDee**

A million hugs to you all. I get huge smiles on my face every time I get feedback from a reader. My hubby laughs at me because I will be in the middle of a store, and if my Droid beeps to tell me I got a new review I have to stop and read it right then. I'm hopeless! I admit it!

*****New Poll Alert!*** **I have just put a new poll on my profile because I want to get you guy's opinion. So if you could take a moment to answer it that would be great. Thanks!

*****Language Warning!*** **Okay, I'm doing this because I don't want to offend anyone. Any of you that have been reading my work for a while know that I do use curse words some in my stories, but I try not to go crazy with them even though I am guilty of having a potty mouth myself. (For those of you that don't know me, Jess is based on me. I'm an awkward 5'11" with dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes and I have been accused of being able to put sailors to shame when I lose my temper, which unfortunately has a short fuse.) But Darien has a pretty violent outburst here at the beginning, so if you don't want to read a lot of curse words, including one that I _never _use in my fics, then skip paragraph 3, okay. Now let's get started!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 16

The Importance of Being Unselfish

* * *

The sound of yelling woke Rini up from the nap she had been having on Darien's couch. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but she had been so tired after spending most of the night out looking for Serena that she must have passed out. She rubbed her eyes and sat up to look at what could only be described as mass chaos. And at the center of it all was Darien, who was being physically restrained by all four of his generals.

Even though the four men were practically sitting on him, her future father was yelling and cursing like she had never heard him do before.

"You stupid, good for nothing bastards!" Darien raged. "Let me up, right fucking now! I'm going to kick the shit out of every one of you if you don't let me up damn it!" Golden energy was beginning to crackle around him.

"Darien," Mina…no not Mina, but Sailor Venus cried as she crouched down in front of him. "Just try to calm down for a moment."

Rini stared around in shock, trying to figure out just what in the world was going on. As sleep fled her mind she realized that everyone was transformed. The scouts were in their fukus while the generals all wore the light gray uniforms of the Terran Royal Army. But what surprised her the most was the sight of Darien dressed in a set of gleaming black and silver armor, complete with a long black cape with red lining similar to the one he wore as Tuxedo Mask.

"Um…what's going on?" she asked in a soft, hesitant voice.

Despite all of the noise in the room, it appeared that everyone heard her because every eye suddenly turned to look at her.

She squirmed under the scrutiny. "What? Did I miss something?"

Sailor Jupiter rushed to her and swept her bangs back in an affectionate gesture. "Hey, kiddo! How are you feeling?"

Rini looked at her skeptically. "I'm fine. But I was doing a lot better a few minutes ago before I was woken up by all of the noise. So what gives? Why are you guys holding Darien down like that? And why is everyone transformed? Did we get a lead on where Serena is hiding out?"

"Not exactly," Mercury replied in her quiet voice. "Could you just sit still for a minute so I can scan you, Rini?"

"Sure," Rini replied with a shrug, wondering why she needed to be scanned. Had something happened to her that she wasn't remembering?"

After a minute the small blue computer beeped. Sailor Mercury looked relieved and announced, "She's solid. There is no sign that she's starting to distort in any way."

"See Darien!" Venus snapped as she bonked the dark haired man on the floor on top of the head. "Rini is fine, so that means that wherever Serena is she's okay too."

"You can't say that for sure!" Darien growled. "When I was taken by Nehelenia it was hours before Rini disappeared."

Sailor Mars moved to kneel down next to Venus. "That's true, Darien. But she began flickering in and out of existence almost immediately after you were taken. So I'm sure that if something bad had happened to Serena that Rini would be showing the signs by now."

"But I felt her!" Darien moaned. "Just for a second, several minutes before that police call came in, I felt her. And she felt like she was scared and in pain."

Venus surged to her feet, emotions running rampant in her blue eyes. "Darien, I'm telling you that there is no way that the girl we heard about in the police call could have been Serena. Most people may think that I am nothing but an airhead blonde, but if there is one thing that I am confident that I know more about than anyone here is soul bonds. There is no way that Serena could be dead. Because if she was you would probably be sitting in a corner somewhere trying to deal with the pain of the severing of your bond with her right now instead of acting like a raving, homicidal lunatic. I can still see the line that ties you two together and it's intact. Now you need to calm down before I have Kunzite knock you out and I tie you up with my love chain! Is that clear enough for you?"

He stopped struggling against the generals and stared at her with hopeful, beseeching eyes that begged her to tell him that she was telling the truth.

Rini froze in shock. "Momma's dead?" she was barely able to whisper.

"Of course she's not!" Mars declared vehemently as she took a seat next to the distraught girl and wrapped an arm around her. "Everyone's just getting worked up for nothing. Jed was playing around with an old police radio when a call came in about a woman who was attacked in the park Her basic description matched Serena's and imaginations ran wild for a moment. That's all."

Rini pushed the comforting arm off of her. "But are you sure, really sure that she's okay? I mean, what if something did happen…" Her face paled and she jumped to her feet. "What if something bad happened because I'm here?"

"Rini," Mercury said gently. "I'm sure Serena is fine. And I seriously doubt that anything that has happened tonight has anything to do with you."

"But you don't know that for sure!" Rini screeched. "Something may have gone wrong somewhere! I was such a brat before I left home, and then I was horrible to Serena when I got here. What if I accidentally messed up the timeline?"

"Guys, let me up," Darien said quietly. When none of the four men holding him down made to move off of him he growled. "Damn it! I said let me up! I'm not going to go rushing off, but my daughter needs me!"

The generals looked at one another warily and then slowly got up from where they had been pinning him to the ground. But they watched him carefully to make sure he wasn't going to make a run for it.

Darien was on his feet in a flash, his armor fading back into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and across the room where he pulled the now sobbing Rini against him in a crushing hug. "Shh, sweetie! Don't get yourself so worked up. I'm sure Serena is fine. The others are right. I was just overreacting."

Rini sucked in a shaky breath and pressed her face against his shirt. "So you can feel her again, right? You know she's okay now? My mom and dad have gotten mad enough at each other a few times to close off their bond with each other, but they usually get over it within a few hours."

Darien closed his eyes, debating whether or not he should lie to his future daughter and tell her that he could sense Serena, when a sudden rush seemed to wash over him. It felt like Serena, but it was sad and forlorn, unlike the bubbly perkiness he usually sensed from her. He swallowed hard when he also felt the hint of pain that accompanied it.

He took Rini gently by the shoulders and set her back, his eyes glittering with determination. "Yes, Rini. I can sense her. And I'm going to get her right now."

He turned toward the balcony doors and glared at the four men that were blocking his path. "Move out of the way guys! I'm going!"

Kunzite shook his head. "We can't let you just go wandering off like this."

"Don't you get it?" Darien growled. "I'm not running off half cocked. I can sense her."

The Mercury computer began beeping and Sailor Mercury checked it. A relieved smile appeared on her face. "He's right. Serena's energy just returned to my scans."

"Well at least let us go with you," Jadeite insisted.

Mars studied Darien intently for a moment before she said softly, "Let him go guys. This is something that he needs to do himself. Besides, I think Serena needs him."

Darien looked at her gratefully as the generals reluctantly stepped aside. "Thanks, Raye." Then he addressed Rini softly. "Stay here with the others, okay. I'll be back soon…with Serena."

She nodded slowly and sat back down on the couch where she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped the blanket around her. Then she grinned at her future father. "Good luck!"

He returned the grin and then darted out onto the balcony. He transformed into Tuxedo Mask as he leapt up on the balcony railing and then jumped to the top of a neighboring building, traveling the rooftops toward where he could feel his princess's presence.

Surprisingly, the pull led him straight toward the Tsukino's house. Evidently Serena had decided to return home. He was a little hurt that she would have done that without letting anybody know that she was okay. She may not want to talk to him, but she could have at least called one of the others. She had to know that they would all be worried about her, and it wasn't like Serena to make her friends worry needlessly. That must mean that she was still extremely upset.

He eyed the dark window of her bedroom as he landed on the roof of her neighbor's house, wondering what he would find inside. Well, whatever state he found her in, he just hoped that her mood was calm enough to keep her from yelling at him. He was about to enter the lion's den…literally, and there was no telling what Ken Tsukino would do if he found him in his daughter's bedroom.

He was about to make the jump to the tree that sat outside Serena's window when he saw movement in the shadows below the tree. After studying it for a moment he saw a glint of gold and realized that it was Serena sitting at the tree's base. Relief flooded through him that he had found her…alive. He changed his jump so that he landed in the middle of her front yard instead.

He had expected her head to snap toward him the moment that he landed, but no movement came from the figure sitting in the dark. Wondering if she had possibly fallen asleep, he stepped carefully toward her.

He paused when her voice, hoarse and gravelly sounding, whispered softly, "I'm sorry."

His eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, and he could see that she was transformed into Sailor Moon. Her back was against the tree trunk and she had one knee pulled up with her arms crossed on top of it and her face buried in them.

He knew that he needed to proceed carefully, but he couldn't help but admonish her. "You've had everyone worried sick."

There was a sniffle and a hiccup. "I know. I didn't mean to. I just…I don't know what I was thinking."

She sounded so lost and unhappy that he wanted to rush to her and gather her up in his arms, but some sixth sense warned him that it might not be the best idea at the moment. His eyes sharpened as he peered through the gloom and took in her overall appearance.

She looked like she had been through a youma battle. That was the only way to put it. Her fuku was torn and tattered in places, her gloves were covered in dirt, and her knee-high white boots were sporting some serious scuffmarks. He could see several scrapes and bruises along her legs and her golden pigtails were matted with leaves and twigs.

He blew out a deep sigh. "What happened, Serena?"

She shook her head, but she didn't lift it to look at him. "I just wanted to get away for a while and think. I knew everyone would flip when I cloaked my aura and the Silver Crystal, but I wanted to be alone. I've spent all night hiding from everyone who was out looking for me. I wasn't doing it to be mean. I just…I wanted to be by myself without anyone butting in. Does that make sense?"

He nodded. He understood the need to sometimes get away from everyone and everything and just think. He had to do it quite often himself. But unlike Serena, he usually didn't have to worry about having people intruding on his quiet time. He was close to the other girls, but they weren't constantly in his life the way they were hers. And they had a way of bombarding her whenever they felt like anything was wrong in her life. It had been a drastic step for Serena to block herself off from everyone the way she had, but he could understand why she had done it.

"It makes perfect sense," he answered her softly. "I just wish that you had called and told someone that you were okay."

A sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh escaped her. "I'm not that careless! I turned my phone off because I knew that Amy would probably be able to track it. And then when I tried to turn it back on a little while ago it wouldn't power up. I think the battery's dead."

He chuckled lightly. That was just like Serena to forget to charge her cell phone up. He stepped closer to her and leaned a shoulder against the tree. "So now do you want to tell me why you look like you came out on the bad end of a ten round battle with Beryl?"

She muffled a sniffle in her arms. "I fell," she replied simply.

He rolled his eyes. "Out of what, a tree?" That would explain the twigs and leaves in her hair.

Her head shot up and she glared at him. "No! I fell from a roof! I was crying and I misjudged the distance. I slipped off the edge when I landed and fell into an alley. So go ahead and tell me what a klutzy Meatball Head I am!"

His expression became immediately concerned when he saw the nasty scrape that covered one of her cheeks. He knelt beside her and took her chin in his fingers, tilting her head to get a better look. "Serena!"

She jerked her head away. "I know! I'm a wreck! When I fell I hit my head and almost blacked out. I also screwed my ankle up pretty good too, so walking is torture. My mind was so fuzzy that I didn't realize that I was still blocking you, so I waited, thinking that you would come. When you didn't that was when I tried to call and my phone wouldn't work. I knew I'd never make it to your place, so I came home. But I couldn't get up to my window so I just sat down here. I figured if I waited a few hours my scout healing would patch me up enough so I could move. But then I felt you reaching out to me and that was when I remembered that I needed to drop the block."

The tears that had been brimming in her eyes spilled over. "And of course you come running to rescue me again. You were right. I'm nothing but a whiney, immature crybaby!"

He took her face in between his gloved palms, careful to avoid her injured cheek. "No you're not! You are a beautiful and confident young woman, and I'm proud to have you in my life. If anyone should feel bad about what's happened today it should be me. You are the kindest, most loving person in the world. I know that you are only looking out for what's best for me, and I repay you by being stubborn and selfish. I'm sorry, Serena."

"Oh, Darien!" she cried as she sat forward to lean her head against his chest. "I'm sorry too! I said such horrible things to you. I never should have called you cold and emotionless, because you're not. You're sweet and caring, and I love you so much!"

"Shh…I love you too," he tried to calm her when she burst into frantic sobs. He ran a hand over her head and frowned when he felt a sizeable lump. "We need to get you taken care of, sweetheart."

She gripped the lapels of his tuxedo jacket firmly in both hands as she tried to bring her crying under control. "I'll be okay. I'm already better than what I was a little while ago. My ankle and my cheek are still throbbing and I have a headache, but my cuts and bruises aren't as bad as they were and my vision's not blurry anymore."

He shook his head in exasperation. "You probably had a concussion. You're just lucky that you heal fast and that you had the added protection of being transformed when it happened. Most people would be dead if they fell off a roof. How high was it anyway?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, a few stories. Maybe five or so. I tried to land properly so I wouldn't get hurt, but it took me by surprise and I got twisted around. It's kind of embarrassing actually. I can easily jump down from three times that height and not get a scratch."

"Well there's a big difference between a planned jump and falling," he told her as he gathered her up in his arms, being careful not to jostle her too much, and stood up. "Just hang on tight and I'll have you back at my place in no time. Then Amy can scan you and Zoicite can look you over."

She groaned and pressed her face to his neck. "Oh no! Everyone's there, aren't they?"

He grinned. "I'm afraid so. They've all been worried about you. That's one reason why I'm letting you off the hook so easily, because I know that the girls will chew you out far worse than I ever could."

She shivered at the thought and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he jumped to the rooftops. She let her eyelids close sleepily as she murmured, "I don't care. Let them bitch. I'll just tune them out. I'm so tired."

He tightened his grip on her as he felt her beginning to wilt in his arms and pressed his head close to hers as he said gently, "I know you are, angel. We'll have you comfy soon, and then you can sleep."

* * *

Rini looked up at the balcony doors for the fifth time in a minute and blew out a heavy sigh. Where were they? It had been almost a half an hour since Darien had announced that he felt Serena and had gone after her. Even if she had been on the other side of the city they should have been back by now. They moved fast.

Mina was sitting next to her and reached over to pat her knee. "Hey, perk up! I'm sure they'll be back any minute now."

Rini crossed her arms and grumbled, "They're probably fighting again. My mom and dad like to pick on each other and bicker a lot, but they don't seriously fight often. But when they do it's a doozey. This is one of those times when I hate coming from the future because it makes me want to yell at them and tell them exactly what they are supposed to do so that they can get over it."

"They'll figure it out. They always do," Lita drawled from where she was sitting sideways in a chair with her legs dangling over the arm. Her fingers played with Nephrite's shaggy, mahogany hair as he sat on the floor in front of her.

"I'm still going to give that Meatball Head a piece of my mind for scaring the crap out of us like this!" Raye growled. "I don't care how mad she gets at Darien, she should not shut us out like that. How are we supposed to protect her if we don't know where she is?"

Jadeite deftly took the cup of tea from her hand that was beginning to bubble and boil. "Calm down a little, Firefly. Getting mad won't help the situation."

Amy looked up from her computer. "He's right. If I know Serena, she probably already feels bad about worrying us. And the internal beating she'll give herself over it will be worse than anything we can say to her." The computer beeped and she looked down at it and smiled. "They're on their way back now, both of them. They should be here within the minute."

Rini sat up straight and kept her gaze locked on the doors, as did pretty much everyone else. The moment she saw the black, shadowy shape land on the balcony she jumped up and flew across the room, beating Kunzite and flinging the glass doors wide.

"Serena…" she began to squeal, but her voice faltered when she took in the sight of a very disheveled Sailor Moon lying limply in Tuxedo Mask's arms.

Sailor Moon's blonde head barely lifted from his shoulder, but it was enough for Rini to see her red, swollen, and battered looking face. But despite looking like she had been through hell, her mother's past self gave her a small smile and whispered, "Hey!"

"What in the world happened to you?" Rini shrieked as her voice returned to her.

Tuxedo Mask nudged her shoulder gently with his. "Let us by, Rini. I need to lay her down."

Rini stepped to the side and Tuxedo Mask swept through the door, still holding tightly to the precious bundle in his arms. Startled exclamations filled the room when everyone saw the state Sailor Moon was in. Under the light of the lamps every cut, scrape, and bruise looked ten times worse than what they had in the dark.

The scouts immediately surrounded them, firing off questions faster than bullets from a gun.

"What happened?"

"How did she get like this?"

"What the hell?"

"What have you been doing, Meatball Head?"

"I'm sorry, guys," Sailor Moon managed to choke out in a raspy voice as fresh tears flooded her eyes. "I know you were worried, and I…I'm sorry."

"Sorry!" Raye screeched. "You disappear for hours and then show up looking like you just fought Chaos all over again and all you can say is that you're sorry! I ought to wrap that mile long hair of yours around your neck and strangle you with it!"

Sailor Moon cringed into Tuxedo Mask's chest and stared at her friend with swimming, crystalline eyes. "I really am sorry, Raye. I was being selfish when I should have been worrying about you. How have you been after that fight with your father?"

The fury melted from the fire priestess as it was replaced with a look of disbelief. "Are you seriously asking me about that now? I'm fine. That showdown with him had been coming for a long time. You're the one I'm worried about. You look like hell!"

Lita snickered. "You do look a lot like a war refugee, Serena."

Mina sniffed. "You definitely aren't going to spark any new fashion trends with that look."

"I know," Sailor Moon replied in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Then her head fell heavily back onto Tuxedo Mask's shoulder. "Tired…" she mumbled.

Tuxedo Mask pushed past them toward the bedroom. "You girls can interrogate her later. Right now she needs rest. Zoi, Amy, can you guys come with me for a minute?"

The two of them nodded and hurried after him, followed closely by Rini, who wasn't about to be left out of the loop.

As they entered the bedroom, Amy hurried to spread a blanket over the bed to protect the covers underneath from the dirt and dried blood that covered Sailor Moon. Then she whipped out her computer and immediately began scanning her princess.

Tuxedo Mask laid her down on the bed as gently as he could and then stepped back, letting his transformation fade as he did. Zoicite took his place and began looking over the injured girl while Rini sat on the foot of the bed, being careful to stay out of the way.

After several silent moments Amy said softly, "Serena, I need you to undo your transformation so I can get a better reading, okay."

Sailor Moon nodded, though her eyes were closed, and pressed her hand to the heart shaped brooch on her chest. In a burst of light, ribbons, and feathers, her tattered fuku faded away, leaving her in the same tank top and shorts she had been wearing earlier in the day.

Rini thought she looked uncomfortable lying there with her shoes on, so she reached for the sandals and began undoing the straps, being very careful with the right foot when she saw her swollen, purple ankle.

Serena's eyes fluttered open for a moment and she gave Rini a grateful smile before she winked at her.

Relief flooded through Rini. If Serena could still smile and react like that then she was going to be okay.

Zoicite looked up from where he was checking Serena's pulse as the Mercury computer beeped. "Well, what's the verdict?" he asked Amy.

The blue haired girl smiled. "She'll be fine. Luckily her advanced healing has already kicked in and started working. She did have a concussion earlier, but it's healed enough to just be a large bump on the head now. There's some bruising around her ribs and a sprained ankle, along with multiple scrapes and bruises, but nothing life threatening. What did you do, Serena, get hit by a car?"

Darien sighed in relief at Amy's diagnosis and then chuckled. "Nope! She fell off a five story building."

Serena cracked open one eye to glare at him. "Go ahead and yuck it up, Cape Boy!"

Darien bit his lip in an attempt to stop laughing. "Sorry."

Amy shook her head. "In any case, even with your advanced healing it's going to take you a couple of days to completely recover, Serena. You should feel much better by tomorrow, but you'll still want to take it easy, especially with that ankle."

"Hmm…maybe not," Zoicite mused and turned to Darien. "You've done some training with the healing powers of the Golden Crystal, haven't you?"

Darien nodded, looking a little apprehensive. "Yeah, Helios has shown me some of it, but I only know how to heal myself. I haven't had the opportunity to try it on anyone else yet."

Zoicite grinned. "Well now's the perfect time, wouldn't you say?"

Darien shook his head. "I don't know if I can. I haven't had the crystal all that long and I really don't know much about it. I may end up doing more harm to her than good."

Amy snorted. "Do you honestly think the Silver Crystal would let her be harmed by yours? Even if something were to go wrong it would protect her."

"But she's already so weak," Darien protested.

"Dare," Serena whispered from the bed. "I want you to try. Think of it as a learning experience. I know you thrive on those. And if it doesn't work, then oh well."

Rini sat back and thought for a moment. Sometimes it was easy to forget that while Serena and Darien were the past forms of her parents, they were still young and hadn't mastered all of their powers yet. As she had grown up in Crystal Tokyo, King Endymion had always been able to patch up any bump or scrape she had ever gotten in the blink of an eye. Evidently Darien still had a way to go before he reached that level.

Then an idea struck her. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Helios," very softly. It had been a while since she had summoned the dream priest to come and see her. In fact, she had been kind of avoiding him since she had discovered that she had developed a major crush on the white haired man. She hoped that he would answer her now.

A few seconds later there was a soft, white glow of light as Helios appeared. He inclined his head to the young princess with a smile. "You called, my maiden?"

Rini felt a fiery blush rush up her neck toward her cheeks and fought to push it back down as she waved a careless hand in Darien's direction. "Serena had an accident and Darien wants to try to heal her with the Golden Crystal. But since he's never done that before I thought that maybe you could help him."

Helios turned and bowed to Darien. "My prince, I would be honored to help you in any way I can." Then his eyes widened as he looked to Serena. "Princess! What happened?"

Serena tried to smirk, but it came out looking more like a grimace. "I took a little tumble, Helios. That's all."

He clucked his tongue as he hurried to Darien's side. "Well let's see what we can do about getting you feeling better. There's no sense in you suffering from the pain when Endymion holds the power to heal it."

Darien took him by the arm and pulled him several feet away before whispering harshly. "You make it sound so easy, Helios, but you have to remember that I have very little experience with using the crystal. I just might not be able to pull this off."

Amber eyes blinked at him slowly. "You underestimate yourself, my prince. The Golden Crystal belongs to you and it recognizes you as being its master. It will heed your commands and do as you ask, as long as you channel the energy properly. And that is why I am here. Will you allow me to guide you?"

Darien looked toward the bed and took in the sight of his battered princess. She hadn't complained at all, but he knew that she was in pain. He could feel it through their bond. And he owed it to her to try to offer her some relief. He nodded his head.

"Excellent!" Helios said approvingly and led him back to the bedside. "Now, healing someone else is not much different from healing yourself. It follows the same basic concept. But what you have to do is project the power out from yourself like I taught you how to do when you were preparing to bring the generals back. You must reach out with your aura to the aura of the person you want to heal and then funnel the energy of the Golden Crystal through them. Do you have a fix on the princess's aura?"

Darien shot him a _"Duh!" _look. He and Serena were soul mates. He could sense her aura clearer than anyone else's, well, except for Rini's anyway. The soft, soothing silver of Serena's aura always lapped against him like gentle waves, even when he wasn't paying attention to it.

Helios held up his hands. "I was only asking. Now, reach inside the Golden Crystal and activate its healing powers."

Darien closed his eyes and did as he was told. His eyelids popped back open a few seconds later when he heard both Serena and Amy gasp to find that his hands were encompassed in a golden glow.

Helios laid a hand on his wrist and pulled it so that his hand was hovering over Serena. "Hold both of your hands slightly above her. That will be where your power is expelled from. Close your eyes and focus."

His gaze caught and held Serena's for a second. Her eyes were filled with such innocence and trust that it set his heart pounding.

"You can do it," she encouraged him softly.

He basked in those words as he let his eyes fall shut. Then he concentrated on the sound of Helios's quiet voice.

"Let your aura combine with hers, but do it slowly so that they don't become tangled. As your awareness of her becomes stronger you will be able to sense exactly where all of her injuries are. When you have them identified start channeling the Golden Crystal's power through her, directing it where it needs to go."

Darien felt sweat pop out on his brow as he did as directed. For a moment it almost felt like he was inside Serena's body. He could feel the throbbing in her ankle, cheek, and head and the soreness of her ribs. He let the warm energy of the Golden Crystal flow out of him and into her, praying that he would be able to heal her. He didn't like to think of her being in pain.

Serena had been watching him, her expression turning concerned when he began to sweat and his breathing grew harsh. She started to say something, but Helios held up a hand, signaling for her to remain quiet. Scared that she might interrupt Darien's concentration, she stayed silent.

But several moments later she couldn't help but gasp as warmth exploded in her stomach and slowly began radiating throughout her body. She was so caught up in the peculiar sensation that she didn't pinpoint the exact moment the pain disappeared. All she knew was that suddenly all of her aches and pains were gone. She was still bone weary, but she was now lying comfortably on the bed instead of holding herself rigid to fight the pain. She sank gratefully into the mattress.

"That's enough, Endymion," Helios cautioned. "Now slowly pull the energy back into the crystal and disengage your aura from hers."

It took several long seconds, but Serena felt the warmth of his energy finally retreat from her body. Darien drew in several deep breaths before opening his eyes to look down at her. His sapphire eyes softened with relief as they swept over her.

"You look much better," he said with a teasing grin. "You're still dirty and your hair looks like a family of rats have taken up residence in it, but at least you're not bruised and bleeding anymore."

Despite her tiredness, she mustered up a glare. "Gee, thanks! Way to make a woman feel loved."

"I'm just teasing," he chuckled. "How do you feel? Are you in any pain?"

"No pain," she mumbled through a yawn. "Just really, really sleepy."

"Your scans are all coming up normal now," Amy announced happily. "I think once you get a good night's sleep you'll be back to yourself again."

"I knew Darien would be able to pull it off," Zoicite almost cheered. "After all, he is Endymion's reincarnation, and the prince could practically heal people in his sleep."

Darien cocked his head to the side. "I could? I really don't remember that. Sometimes it sucks not being able to recall the past any clearer than I do. Every now and I then I'll catch a glimpse of something, but it's usually pretty vague."

Zoicite's brow furrowed. "I know what you mean. It's even more infuriating for me because I am not a reincarnation, and yet I can't remember a lot of things that have happened in my life. But I do seem to remember that you could heal people in the past"

Helios cleared his throat suddenly as Rini shot him a wide-eyed look of panic. "Perhaps we should leave now so that Serenity can get some rest. I'm sure you're all tired after having such a busy night."

"I know I am!" Rini declared as she crawled quickly up the bed to hug her mother's past self enthusiastically. "I'm glad you're okay Serena! I'm going to go to bed now. Good night!"

"Good night," Serena returned, but she was speaking to Rini's back since the girl had already scrambled from the bed and was almost running for the door.

"I will take my leave now as well. Please call for me if I can be of any more assistance, your highnesses," Helios said. Then he bowed and disappeared.

Darien chuckled. "Was it something I said?" He grinned at Zoicite and Amy. "Are you two going to run away now?"

"Actually, I think I am," Amy giggled. "It's been a long day and night, so I think I'm going to head home to bed. Don't worry, I'll run everybody else out of here and tell them not to bother you until tomorrow…or later today actually, Serena. I'm sure you want to get some sleep before you have to deal with the others, especially Raye."

Serena smiled. "Thanks Amy. That would be nice."

Zoicite took Amy's hand. "Come on. I'll help you herd everybody out and then give you a ride home."

Darien shook his head as the door closed behind them and then turned to Serena with a critical look.

"What?" she demanded in a defeated tone. "Is this where you're going to chew me out now that I'm not all banged up anymore?"

"No," he said simply. "But we do have a problem."

"And what would that be?" she yawned as she rolled over to her side and closed her eyes. She shrieked a moment later when she felt arms lifting her from the bed. "Darien! What are you doing? If you don't want me to stay here just say so and I'll go home."

But instead of carrying her out of the bedroom he headed for the bathroom, where he sat her on the bathroom counter. Then he turned the water in the shower on and turned to her with a grin. "Sweetheart, I love you. But you are not sleeping with me in my bed while covered in dirt. Hell! I'm probably almost as filthy. So first we are going to take a shower, and then we will go to bed."

Serena eyed the shower. It was true that she felt disgustingly gritty and a shower sounded like heaven. But…"Dare, I know I'm dirty, but right now I don't care. I'm about to pass out just sitting here and a shower will take forever. You know how long it takes me to shampoo and condition this mop."

His smile grew as he stripped his t-shirt off over his head. "That's what you have me for. I'll hold you upright. I may even be persuaded to help you with your hair if you play your cards right."

Knowing that she was fighting a losing battle, she caved in. "Fine!" She reached for the hem of her tank top, but paused when she saw his eyes darken. "Um…on second thought, maybe separate showers would be a better idea. You go ahead. I know it will only take you a couple of minutes. I'll take mine after you."

Before she could blink, Darien was in front of her and had whipped the shirt easily off of her. It was the type of tank top that had a built in bra, so it left her bare from the waist up.

"Serena," Darien growled. "You've had an emotional day and a traumatic night. I admit that just the thought of you turns me on, but I'm not a bastard enough to try to take advantage of you when you're half dead from exhaustion." He smirked at her then. "But that doesn't mean that I won't enjoy the view while I can. I promise though, we're just going to get cleaned up and then go to bed. I'll behave myself."

Serena shuddered as their chests brushed against one another, and suddenly she didn't feel nearly as tired anymore. She licked her lips before looking up coyly at him. Then she pressed a quick kiss to his lips and whispered, "Yeah, but I can't promise that I'll behave."

Then she slid from the counter and shimmied out of her shorts and panties. She plucked out the hairpins that held up her buns and shook her head so that her hopelessly tangled hair fell around her like a cloak. As she turned for the shower she heard a low groan vibrate in Darien's throat and looked back at him over her shoulder to find him staring at her with passion darkened eyes.

"Well, are you coming or not?" she quipped.

He gripped the edge of the counter so hard that his knuckles turned white. "You were right. Separate showers are definitely a good idea."

She pouted at him. "But you said that you would help me with my hair."

"Serena…" he moaned like he was in pain. "I can't. If I get in that shower with you I won't be able to keep my hands to myself. I just know it."

She flitted back to his side and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "Maybe I don't want you to. Now I'm telling you to get naked and come join me." She licked his ear and blew a breath across it before turning away and entering the glassed in shower.

Darien probably set a world record then for removing a pair of jeans and boxers in the fastest time.

* * *

Rini left the bathroom with a freshly washed face and brushed teeth and hair. She wore a large, pink silk dorm shirt that fell to her knees. She heard a few voices still speaking in the living room as Amy and Zoicite chased the last of the stragglers, Mina and Kunzite by the sound of it, out of the apartment. She dashed quickly across the hall to the bedroom she used when she stayed there, hoping that no one would see her. She wasn't in the mood for chatting.

She ducked inside her room and closed the door quietly behind her before she leaned against it with a sigh. Thank goodness she had avoided detection. It was nothing against the scouts or generals, but she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. All of the drama tonight had zapped her and her stomach ached a little. Right now her bed sounded like the closest thing to heaven that she could think of.

She stumbled across the room to the bed and crawled under the covers, pulling the blanket and sheet up to her chin as she curled up into a ball. She scrunched her eyes closed and waited for sleep to claim her. It shouldn't take long. She was usually out like a light within two minutes after her head touched the pillow.

But after fifteen minutes she groaned and opened her eyes again. Her body may be physically tired, but her brain was wound up tighter than her Grandma Ilene's old clock. And it was all _his _fault.

'_No it isn't. You're the one that called him,' _her rational side admonished her. And it was true. She was the one that had summoned Helios to her tonight to help Darien heal Serena. She just hadn't stopped to think about what it would do to her to see him again.

Helios had become her best friend and confidant when he had taken refuge inside her dream mirror during the fight against Nehelenia just a little over a year ago. The Dead Moon queen had invaded Elysian in search of the Golden Crystal and had captured Helios. When that happened he had detached his spirit from his body, which took the form of a Pegasus, and had escaped with the crystal to the outside world. But the only way he could survive in his spirit form was to hide inside someone's beautiful dream. And for some reason he had picked hers. He'd told her that it had been like a bright light calling out to him.

She had gotten caught up in the fairytale-like quality of the whole experience and had grown quite attached to him. For the first time in her life she had felt like she was special. Not that her parents had ever made her feel inferior. They had always told her that she was special as far back as she could remember, but it was kind of hard when you lived in the shadows of parents who were the High King and Queen of Earth. No, it had been different with Helios.

Looking back now she couldn't believe how incredibly naïve and stupid she had been. If she had just sat back and really thought things through she could have put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Okay, so it might not have been quite that easy. She had known that her father had a magic crystal like her mother's and that it was gold, but no one had ever told her that it was THE Golden Crystal. She had also been taking trips to Elysian her entire life, but she had never connected Helios's dream world with their vacation spot. She had just assumed that it was a palace in a quiet spot that her parents liked to escape to sometimes that just happened to have the same name. If she had known those two little facts right away she could have led Helios straight to Darien and stopped the fight with the Dead Moon Circus before it had gotten so messy.

She had complained about that to a friend of her mom's one time and remembered the way the dark blonde woman had laughed at her anger.

"_Honestly, Rini," _she'd said. _"Haven't you figured it out by now that our particular extended family excels at keeping secrets? I know how you feel, really I do. I was once in the same position with them and I wasn't happy about it. But you have to understand that it was done this way to keep the timeline moving forward the way it is supposed to. Every battle that was fought in the past has shaped our time here. If they didn't happen then our present would be altered, and possibly not in a good way. And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"_

No, she didn't want that to happen, and deep down she understood the necessity for things in the past to happen the way they were meant to, but it still a lot for her to take in.

But the kicker, the one thing that had stung like salt being rubbed into a wound, had been when she had gone home after her last trip into the past. Nehelenia had finally been dealt with for good and she had been on top of the world. Sure, Darien had been kidnapped and her own existence had been in question for a while, but Sailor Moon had managed to purify the Dead Moon queen and all was well… at least until she had arrived back in her time.

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

"Bye, Puu! I'll see you later!" Rini squealed as she gave the time guardian a quick hug and ran for the door that would take her directly into the lower level of the Crystal Palace.

"Be careful, Small Lady," Pluto called after her as she chuckled.

Rini threw open the door and ran into the hall, nearly trampling on the small gray cat standing there. "Oh! Diana! I'm sorry!" She scooped the kitty up into her arms and cuddled her.

Diana purred and bumped Rini's chin with her head. "It's okay, Small Lady. No harm done. I imagine that you are excited to see your parents."

Rini nodded as she set the feline back down. "I am! Do you happen to know where they are? It'll take me forever to find them if I have to search this whole place."

"They were in King Endymion's office the last time I saw them," Diana told her.

That was all Rini needed to hear. She whirled and ran down the hall like a pack of cracked out ferrets was on her tail. She sprinted up the stairs and flew across the large foyer of the palace before careening down the corridor where the offices were located. She skidded to a stop when a door opened and a man stepped out.

Andrew jumped in surprise. "Hey, kiddo! Glad to see that you're back. Where's the fire, Speedy?"

She panted for a moment. "Sorry about that, Drew! I was looking for mom and dad. Diana said they were in dad's office. Are they still there?"

For some reason, Andrew chuckled. "Yeah, they should still be there."

She darted around him and hurried to the large wooden door that led to Endymion's office. She flung it wide and cried, "Momma! Daddy! I'm home!"

Too late, she realized that her parents weren't alone in the room. She was aware of Serenity and Endymion rushing to her and hugging her, but her eyes remained fixed on the third person.

Helios stood slowly and walked toward her. Her heart began pounding as he gave her a gentle smile. Then he was in front of her, taking her hand in his as he bowed over it and pressed a light kiss to the back of it.

"Princess Serenity," he said in that smooth tenor voice that she had listened to for hours on end during the nights in the past. "It is an honor to finally be able to meet you in this time."

It took her a moment to process those words, but when she did anger speared through her. She jerked her hand out of his and hissed, "_You knew! _Didn't you? You knew who I was from the very beginning!"

The guilty look in his eyes and the slight flush that crept up his neck confirmed it.

"I don't believe you!" she shrieked. "It was all an act from the very first time you appeared to me, wasn't it? All those times you told me that it was the light of my beautiful dream that led you to me, it was all crap! I can't believe I was so stupid!"

"It wasn't like that at all, my maiden. True, I knew who you were. But I never could have found you without the light of your beautiful dream. You were my salvation." He reached for her hand again.

She jumped back like he had leprosy. "Do you really think I'm that big of an idiot? I know a load of bull when I hear it, and you're spouting off a truckload of it right now! The only reason why you came to me is because is because I am Endymion's daughter! Admit it!"

"Rini, sweetheart," Serenity tried to console her. "That's not the way it was at all. I know we have kept some huge secrets from you, but we had to in order to make sure the past unfolded the way it should."

"Your mother's right," Endymion said calmly. "I know that you're angry now, but in time you will come to understand why we did things the way we did."

Rini glared at all three of them. "Oh I understand why! It's because you all think that I'm just a silly little kid that can't be trusted with the truth! You sent me to the past knowing what would happen, but you didn't trust me enough to clue me in before I left! It's not fair!"

Then she turned the full force of her eyes on Helios and felt a tiny thrill of vindication as he physically took a step back. "I can handle that my parents held the facts from me, but what you did was just plain evil! For the first time in my life I felt like I was someone important for just being myself, and now I find out that you were only around me because you needed me to get to my dad. You made me feel like I was someone special! Now I just feel like I've been used! I never want to see you again!"

Then she burst into tears and ran from the room.

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

Rini sighed and rolled over to stare at the ceiling as she thought about everything that had happened since then. After she had run from her father's office she had gone to her room where she had thrown herself across the bed and cried like her heart was breaking, and in a way it had. Helios had been the first person that she had felt comfortable enough with to spill out every wish and desire that she had held in her fragile, twelve year old heart. She had told him things that she had never even spoken to her mother about. She had thought that she had found a friend that had genuinely liked her for who she was. And it had all turned out to be a scam…or so she'd thought.

After giving her some time to cool down, Serenity and Endymion had come to speak to her. They explained everything to her about Elysian and how Helios had remained hidden from her until now so that she wouldn't be able to make a connection between him and the Pegasus that had befriended her. According to the timeline they were supposed to meet in the past, so they had taken steps to ensure that would happen.

She had forgiven her parents, but she had still been upset with Helios. Then that night he had come to her while she dreamed. At first she had refused to even speak to him, but he had begged and pleaded with her until she had finally cracked.

It had taken some time to rebuild what they'd had before, but between his frequent trips to Crystal Tokyo and her almost nightly visits to Elysian as she slept, their former friendship had returned.

Then one night, as she and Helios had lain on the soft grass in Elysian while gazing up at the stars, she had made a horrifying discovery. She had turned her head to ask Helios something to find him watching her with his gentle amber eyes, and she'd suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to kiss him. She didn't know when or how it had happened, but she had developed deep feelings for the dream priest.

After that night she had begun to pull away from him, spending less and less time in Elysian until her visits stopped completely. The only time she ever saw him now was when he made his sporadic visits to Crystal Tokyo. And when he did she always made sure that they were around other people. She had hoped that the time away from him would have cooled her feelings for him, but the way that her heart had begun racing when he had appeared at her call told her that it hadn't. If anything she had found him to be even more devastatingly handsome than ever before. Some girls may not like the pale, fair type, but she liked it, at least on Helios.

She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach to bury her head in her pillow. She knew she should be disgusted with herself. Here she was, only a week away from her fourteenth birthday, and she was fantasizing about a fully-grown man. Actually, he was much more than fully-grown. While Helios looked like he was in his very late teens, possibly extreme early twenties, he was actually centuries old. In fact, he had been born in the same year that Prince Endymion had been during the Silver Millennium. That meant that she had exactly zero chance of them ever having a relationship. That would take the expression _'robbing the cradle' _to a whole new extreme. She was nothing more than an infant in his eyes and she knew it.

"You seem to be unable to rest tonight, my maiden," a soft voice suddenly said.

Rini's head jerked up and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the person standing next to her bed. "Helios!"

He smiled his gentle smile. "I thought that I should check on you. You seemed a bit panicked earlier and I was concerned. I had thought that you would be asleep by now, but when I didn't sense you entering the dream realm I decided to investigate."

"Oh," she murmured. "I guess I got a little freaked out listening to Darien and Zoicite talking about wanting to remember their past. There for a minute I thought they were about to remember everything, and that's not supposed the happen for two more years."

Helios shrugged. "The memory blocks on everyone are strong, and they'll hold until the time is right to release them. They may get a few visions or fleeting memories from time to time. But it should be nothing to worry about. The secret about the past is safe."

"That's good," Rini replied. Then she yawned widely.

"You should get some sleep. I can tell that you're exhausted," Helios told her.

"That's what I was trying to do before you showed up!" Rini snapped. "It's hard to sleep when someone's standing here talking to me."

He bowed his head. "My apologies for disturbing you then. I will leave you now." He hesitated for a moment, and then said softly, "I've missed your visits. The nights in Elysian seem empty now that you don't come anymore."

Rini felt her face heating up, so she buried it in her pillow again as she muttered, "Yeah right! You're probably glad to not have to put up with the torture of having me hanging around all the time."

"No," he whispered softly. "Not having you with me is the worst torture imaginable."

She lifted her head back up to look at him, but he had already faded from sight. She lay there, tears stinging her eyes as she fought back the urge to call him back to her. Surely he hadn't meant what he'd said…had he?

Eventually she relaxed and sank into the mattress as sleep finally overtook her. Without knowing why she did it, she willed herself to go into Elysian as she crossed over into dreams.

One second all was dark, and the next she found herself standing in the rose garden of the Elysian palace. And, to her surprise, she found Helios there waiting for her.

He stood from where he had been sitting on the edge of the fountain and walked slowly toward her. Then he took her hands in his and leaned forward to press the softest of kisses to her forehead.

"Welcome back," he said with a genuine smile.

And in that moment Rini knew that there was no place else she'd rather be.

* * *

Amy looked up from the book she was reading and reached for the phone that was ringing on the end table. "Mizuno residence."

A male voice laughed and then replied, "There's my little girl! How are you doing, Sweet Pea?"

She bolted up straight in surprise. "Oh! Dad! Hi! I'm fine. How have you been?" She avoided looking at Zoicite, whose attention had been pulled away from the medical journal he was looking at by her exclamation.

John Mizuno chuckled. "I've been doing good. You haven't been studying too hard have you?"

"Daaad!" she complained. "Honestly! You sound as bad as mom. I do have a life outside of school."

"Hmph!" he snorted. "Yeah, Anne told me that you finally found yourself a boyfriend. And a doctor, no less."

That floored poor Amy. "You talked to mom?"

He sighed. "I don't talk to her as much as I do you, but we do touch base from time to time. But don't get your feathers ruffled. I'm not going to go Papa Bear on you. You are a smart girl and I trust your judgment. So if this guy is who you want to be with, then you have my blessing."

"Okay," she said in obvious relief. "But somehow I get the feeling that you didn't call me just to discuss the recent developments in my personal life."

"Ah! You know me too well," he said in a teasing tone. "I was actually calling because I was wondering if I could get a favor from you."

Amy smirked. "When? For how long? Where are you going this time? And what's wrong with Tommy?"

"Dang! You are too intuitive for your own good sometimes!" he sputtered.

She smirked. "No. Like you said, I know you. It's the art festival season and you always try to hit a few of them every year. And whenever you can't get Tommy to watch Zephyr and Xypher you call me. So fess up!"

"Like I said, you know me too well. You must get that from your mother. Damn, infuriating woman!" he muttered. "But anyway, yes, there is a festival in Osaka and I have several pieces showing in it. I've had it planned for a while and Tommy was going to keep an eye on things for me. But that darn kid went and broke his leg yesterday in a bike accident, so now he's laid up and my plane leaves this afternoon."

Amy glanced at Zoicite, who was watching her curiously, and felt torn. She really wanted to help her dad out, but at the same time she felt selfish and didn't want to spend any time away from Zoicite. Then again, the cabin was peaceful and beautiful. But there was Serena to consider too. The poor girl had been seriously rattled and wiped out when Darien had carried her into the apartment in the wee hours of the morning. Sure Darien had healed her, but she also felt a need to stick close by in case her princess needed her.

"Um…well…dad…" she stammered. "I don't know."

"Ohh…" he drawled. "You already have plans, don't you? That's okay. I'll figure something out."

"No!" she exclaimed. "It's not that. I mean, I don't have anything planned. I just need to check with my friends and make sure that they aren't cooking up anything. Can I call you back in a little bit?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied. Then his tone brightened. "And if you don't want to stay here alone you can bring your boyfriend with you. I don't mind. You're a young woman of seventeen now, so what you do is your business. Besides, I'll only be gone for two days."

Amy's cheeks burned bright red. "I'll call you back, dad!" Then she disconnected the call.

Zoicite chuckled and put his hands behind his head as she hung up the phone. "Your dad, huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He's supposed to fly out this afternoon for an art festival, but the boy he usually has to watch Zephyr and Xypher broke his leg and can't do it. So he wanted to know if I could come house sit for him for a couple of days."

Her dark blonde boyfriend tilted his head to the side quizzically. "And Zephyr and Xypher would be…?"

"My dad's Great Danes," she answered automatically. "They're huge dogs, but they are really a couple of teddy bears. But someone needs to be there while dad is gone to feed them and let them out. He has a big, fenced in area for them, but he can't leave them outside the whole time he's gone with as hot as it's been. I've done this for him before, but I don't know if I should this time. His place is almost two hours away, and I might be needed here."

Zoicite sat forward with his elbows on his knees. "Well why don't you go by and check on Serena before you decide. I'm sure she's fine though. Darien did a pretty good job of patching her up. If everything seems okay you can go if you want to with a clear conscience. I wish I could go with you. Some time away from the city sounds nice."

She glanced up shyly at him; her cheeks flushed a light pink. "You can come with me if you want to. Dad said it was okay."

His bright green eyes glittered. "Would you like me to? I still have a few days before I start my job at the hospital, so I'm free."

"I would like that very much," she said softly.

He jumped up and grabbed her hand. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go by Darien's and check on them. If we get the all clear we can get this show on the road." Then he practically pulled her from the apartment.

* * *

Raye scrunched her nose up as she looked around the large sitting room. "It's very…red."

Jadeite stared at her in disbelief. "I thought you liked red."

"I do," she quickly reassured him. "It's my favorite and you know it. I just never pictured you having a room quite like this. It looks professionally done."

He grinned at her. After all the weeks of waiting for Raye to come around, he had finally gotten her to agree to come to visit the penthouse. He had been dying to show her his suite since he had first arrived there. "You make it sound like you expected me to have nothing more than a mattress thrown on the floor. I don't come across as being that uncivilized, do I?"

Raye wasn't prone to embarrassment often, but she flushed at his words and turned away from him. "No! I didn't mean it like that. It was just surprising, that's all. This room looks like something I would come up with. Whoever designed it must know you well."

"Couldn't tell ya," he said cheerfully. "This was all set up by our future selves and was like this when we got here. I thought of you the moment I walked in here though. I even have my suspicions that your future self may have had a hand in this. Like you said, this does look like something you would design."

"Hmm…" she mused as she browsed the CD collection sitting on a shelf above a pretty high tech looking stereo system. "Who knows, maybe she did. I can't speak for her personally because I didn't get a chance to meet her when I went to the future. I can't imagine that I've changed all that much though."

"You haven't," he answered and then continued quickly at her surprised look. "I met your future self briefly while I was in Elysian when I first came back and she's pretty much the same as you are right now. She looks a few years older, but not by much, and her personality is exactly the same. I thought you heard us guys talking about that when we got back."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I was too focused on ignoring you to pay attention to anything you had to say. And the girls knew that anything having to do with you guys was a taboo subject with me, so they never brought it up." Then she smirked. "So did I age well?"

"Hah!" he barked a laugh. "You've barely aged at all. No one has. I guess that's just one of the benefits of being blessed by the Silver Crystal; you become practically immortal and stay young and beautiful forever. I would say that your future self doesn't look a day over 21 or 22. And looking at my future self was like looking in a mirror. But enough of that, I have more to show you." He took her by the hand and led her into the adjoining bedroom.

Raye jerked to a stop just a few feet inside the door and stared around in awe at the warm, rich room. "Great Spirit!" she muttered. "Now I know my future self had to have a hand in this. There is no doubt about it. I bet sleeping in here is like sleeping in an oven."

Jadeite chuckled and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed so he could enjoy watching her reactions. "The color scheme does give the impression of being warmer in here than it actually is and it makes it cozy. But if you think this is something you should check out the bathroom. I could practically live in there."

She followed the direction that his finger was pointing and went over to the door that presumably led to the bathroom. She looked inside for a few moments before turning her head to look at him over her shoulder with one raven eyebrow arched. "Where in the world does someone find a gigantic Jacuzzi tub for two in red marble?"

"Beats me," he drawled as he fell back to lie against the fluffy looking, copper comforter. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again. Their blue depths glittered as he smirked and patted the spot next to him. "Why don't you come join me?"

Her look turned thunderous in an instant. "Just because I said that I am willing to give our relationship another chance doesn't mean that I'm going to crawl back into your bed that easily!" She felt a blush bloom across her skin at those words. Technically, she had never been in his bed, her past self had. But who cared about petty details.

Jadeite shot up and glared at her with a look that was as dark as her own. "Geez, Raye! Is that what you think, that I'm trying to lure you into bed? Give me some credit, woman! I just got you back and I know better than to come on to you all hot and heavy so soon. I may be a pervert, but I'm not that big of a pervert. I just thought that you'd like to sit down and talk while we plan our day."

"Oh," she muttered, feeling a twinge of guilt for naturally assuming the worst the moment a bed and Jadeite were together in the same room. She shuffled quietly across the room and sat down next to him on the side of the bed.

His boyish grin exploded onto his face the moment she did. "So, what did you want to do today? You don't have to work, right?"

She shook her head. "No. Grandpa gave me the whole day off, so I'm free."

"Great!" he cheered. "Hmm…it's a little early for lunch, but we'll definitely go eat somewhere. But what to do after that? I don't see museums being your thing. That's more Zoi and Amy's forte. I would say the movies, but I don't think there's anything good playing."

Raye chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. And then, inspiration struck. "It's market day in Juuban! Have you been there yet?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Oh, you have to experience it, at least once," she gushed in an excited, very un-Raye-like way. "They do it once a month down in the older, quaint part of Juuban. It's sort of a cross between an old-fashioned market day and a flea market. People set up booths to sell things and there are food vendors. It's almost like a mini-festival. I've found some really great stuff there over the years."

Jadeite chuckled at her excitement. "Sounds like fun. So I guess that's where we'll be heading."

Raye's expression turned dark again. "After we go by Darien's. Serena's had a chance to rest now, and I still owe her an ass chewing for yesterday. She is not getting off the hook that easily after putting us through hell."

Jadeite slid off the bed and then offered her a hand. "Okay. We'll swing by Darien's first so you can give Serena a piece of your mind before we move on with the rest of our day. I'm looking forward to it in fact. I think it's hot when you lose your temper, as long as it's not directed at me."

Raye rolled her violet eyes at him. "Pervert!"

He laughed and snaked his arms around her waist to jerk her against him. Then he gave her a short, but enthusiastic kiss before he smirked at her. "Yeah, I am. But that's one of the reasons why you love me."

* * *

Serena was awake, but she was still lying in Darien's bed with her eyes closed. Her stomach growled hungrily, but for once she ignored it. She continued to lie there and enjoy the comfort of the black silk sheets that were cocooned around her. She knew that it was starting to get late and that she should get up, but she was so comfy.

She heard the click of the bedroom door opening, and then closing, and smiled to herself. Darien had left her with a kiss a short while ago to go for a jog. It was hours later than he normally ran, and she had teased him that he was going to melt in the heat, but he'd assured her that he was just going to take a quick turn and would be back soon.

She turned her face into the pillow to stifle a giggle. He evidently hadn't made it too far if he was back already. He hadn't been gone maybe more than ten minutes. It must be a scorcher out there if the all-powerful Tuxedo Mask couldn't handle it.

She heard him enter the bathroom and reached her aura toward his, intending to tease him just a little bit, but was shocked when she encountered a pink aura instead of the gleaming gold she had been expecting. It was Rini's aura, but instead of the bright pink it usually appeared to be it seemed to be a little dull and cloudy.

Serena opened her eyes and sat up in the bed, looking toward the bathroom where she could see light shining through an open crack. Wondering what Rini was up to in there, she slid from the covers and tiptoed across the room. She nudged the door slightly and peeked inside.

Rini was on her knees, rummaging around under the bathroom sink and muttering angrily to herself.

Unable to stand the curiosity, Serena pushed the door wider and asked, "Rini? What are you doing?"

The pink haired head snapped around to look at her, and Serena was shocked to see that the maroon eyes were red rimmed and glassy while tears trailed wet rivers down her cheeks.

Alarmed, Serena was down on her knees at the girl's side in an instant and reaching for her. "Oh sweetie! What's wrong?"

Rini stiffened for an instant and sniffled hard. Then she practically collapsed into the arms of her mother's past self and buried her face in her shoulder as she mumbled.

Serena hugged her as she smoothed a hand over the tousled, bubble gum colored hair. "What did you say, honey? I couldn't hear you."

Rini's head shook on her shoulder, but then she said, louder this time, "My period started, and I was looking to see if you had…some things."

"Oh!" Serena gasped as she comprehended those words. Then she asked gently, "Is this your first time." She sincerely hoped not. She didn't mind helping Rini with her problems, but this was really something that Neo Queen Serenity should deal with.

Rini shook her head again. "No. I got my first one just after my thirteenth birthday, so I'm used to it by now. I just didn't bring anything with me. I didn't think about it happening while I was here. And my stomach hurts really, really bad."

"Ah, cramps," Serena crooned sympathetically. "I know what that feels like. But no need to worry, we can get you fixed right up, okay."

She stood up, pulling Rini with her, and turned toward the bathroom closet to pull out a small package. "Luckily I spend so much time here that I keep some supplies around in case of an emergency. So you're in luck. Now, go take care of yourself and I'll come check on you after I change."

Rini nodded as she took the package, trying to muster up a smile. Then she sped away.

Serena shook her head as she walked back into the bedroom, stripping off the overlarge t-shirt of Darien's that she was wearing. Poor kid! Becoming a young woman was hard. She remembered that well from her own early adolescent days. Dealing with the cramps, headaches, and all the other bothersome symptoms was, no pun intended, a real pain. She was still a perfect martyr to PMS herself, despite the fact that she was on birth control. Some girls just had it rougher than others.

She had just slid into a pair of shorts and was pulling a tank top over her head when the bedroom door opened again and Darien walked in, dripping with sweat.

He looked up at her with a sheepish grin. "I know, I know, you told me so. I just didn't think that it would be that hot out there. The news must have lied because they said that we were supposed to be getting a little relief from the heat."

"I didn't say anything," Serena giggled as she walked back to the bathroom to tackle her hair. That was going to be a chore since she'd gone to bed with it wet. But as she glanced toward the shower and remembered what had taken place in there during the early morning hours she figured that it was worth it.

She reached for a bottle of detangling spray and spritzed it liberally through her tangled, golden curls; her cheeks turning faintly pink at the memories. Quickly clicking off that train of thought, she grabbed her brush and began trying to restore some semblance of order to her hair. But her eyes snapped up in the mirror a minute later and naughty thoughts returned in full force when she saw Darien walk in behind her in nothing but his boxers. Great Selene! The man was an absolute god!

He went to the closet to pull out a clean towel and then walked over to the shower to turn it on. When he reached for the waistband of his boxers she quickly averted her eyes and redoubled her efforts to straighten her hair out. It was a relief when he retreated behind the frosted glass of the shower.

"Hey, Sere," he called out over the hiss of the water.

"Yeah," she replied back in as normal a voice as she could.

"I was thinking that we could do lunch somewhere," he said, his voice slightly garbled by the water. "I don't mean to bring up a sore subject, but we still need to have a serious talk."

"I know," she sighed, then winced as she hit a nasty tangle. "We really do need to talk, and putting it off isn't going to make it any easier. Yeah, we can do lunch. I just want to make sure Rini's okay before we go."

The smell of Darien's shampoo wafted from the shower. "Why wouldn't she be okay?"

"She's…just not feeling too good today," she hedged.

His voice grew concerned. "Is she sick?"

"Not exactly," she replied hesitantly. "She just has some…female issues going on."

There was silence for a moment and then a clatter like Darien had dropped a bottle. A few seconds later the shower door cracked open and his wet head appeared around it. "What do you mean, _female issues_? She's just a kid!"

Serena shook her head in bemusement. "Sweetie, for a med student you can be conveniently obtuse at times. Rini's not a little kid anymore. Her fourteenth birthday is next week and she's only slightly younger than I was when you met me. That is a perfectly legitimate age for girls to begin changing. Don't they teach you anything at school?"

"But…but…" he stammered helplessly.

She smiled at him. "Face it, Darien. The little girl that fell on our heads a few years ago has blossomed into a young woman. Now you finish your shower while I check on her. Okay?"

She watched as he disappeared back into the shower and then concentrated on getting the last few tangles out of her hair. It only took her a minute to twist it up into her signature style and then she washed her face and brushed her teeth quickly. After that she grabbed the Midol that she kept in his medicine cabinet and made her escape, grateful that she had gotten away before he had left the shower. If she had to see him wrapped in a towel, or worse, in nothing at all, well…Rini might be waiting a long time for that medicine.

She hurried to the kitchen, where she quickly boiled some water for tea. While she let the tea steep she went to the second bathroom in the hallway and retrieved the heating pad that Darien kept there. Then she gathered all of her goodies and went to Rini's room.

She juggled the things in her arms and opened the door to find her future daughter huddled up under the covers of the bed, curled up in a ball with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

A wave of sympathy flowed through the blonde woman. "Oh you poor thing! Do you normally get cramps this bad?"

The pink head on the pillow shook. "No. I get a few twinges sometimes, but nothing like this. My mom told me that I was lucky because she's always had really bad cramps."

Serena nodded as she set the tea and medicine on the nightstand and bent down to plug in the heating pad. "I do suffer with it, and I guess I always will. The good thing is that I know just what to do to make them feel better. Now sit up for me for a minute."

Rini moaned, but did as she was asked. Serena handed her two tablets and the cup of tea. "Take these. They're maximum strength and they usually start working pretty quick. You should start feeling some relief in about fifteen minutes or so."

Rini swallowed the medicine and then lay back down. Then Serena handed her the warm heating pad and told her, "Put this on your stomach. It will make it feel a little better right away. And try your best to relax. Tensing up only makes it hurt worse."

"Easier said than done," Rini grumbled. "It's hard to relax when you feel like someone's twisting a butcher knife in your belly."

"I know, sweetie. I know," Serena tried to soothe her as she sat on the edge of the bed and began stroking the long locks of pink curls that were tumbled around the girl. A sense of nostalgia settled over her as she remembered her mother doing the same things for her when she was around the same age. A maternal type love swelled in her heart.

Time flew by without her realizing it, and about twenty minutes later Rini blinked her eyes open to look at her sleepily. "I think I feel a little better now."

"That's good," Serena told her with a smile. "Darien and I are going to leave out for a while, okay. But you keep the heating pad on your tummy and try to get some rest. That's the best thing for you."

Rini nodded slowly, eyes fluttering closed. "Thank you, momma," she whispered, already half asleep.

Serena got up slowly, and then bent down to lightly kiss her future daughter's sweetly rounded cheek. With a tiny smile on her face, she left the room.

Darien was in the hallway, waiting for her with a grin. "You handled that well. With a bedside manner like that you should consider the medical field."

She giggled. "I don't think so. I have no head for all of that medical mumbo jumbo and you know it. All I did was do the same thing for her that my mom used to do for me."

He chuckled softly. "You'll be a wonderful mother someday."

"We'll see," she quipped. "Now, I think you promised me lunch. I'm starving!"

"When are you not?" he teased.

"Don't pick on me!" she snapped.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, steering her down the hall to the door. Just as he was about to open it there was a knock.

Serena groaned. It looked like her food was going to have to wait. The interrogations that she had been hoping to put off were about to begin.

* * *

As Lita stepped out of her bedroom, an absolutely delicious smell hit her nose. She followed it down the hall and to her kitchen, knowing exactly what she would find when she got there.

Sure enough, Nephrite was standing at her stove, tending a sizzling skillet. As she walked in his slate blue eyes turned to her. "Good morning," he greeted her warmly. "I thought I would do you a favor and cook for you for once."

Lita eyed him skeptically for a moment. "I was wondering what you were doing here. I didn't realize when I gave you the spare key to this place that it was going to be used for you to sneak in while I was sleeping."

The corners of his mouth drooped. "I just wanted to surprise you."

A husky chuckle left her throat as she reached over to ruffle his shaggy chestnut hair. "Don't take it the wrong way. I am surprised. It's not often that someone else cooks for me, especially in my own kitchen. So you're making me breakfast, huh?"

He glanced at the clock on the microwave. "More like brunch really. I never knew you were such a lazybones."

She walked to the refrigerator and took out some orange juice. "I know. I _never _sleep in like this. Even when the girls and I were facing enemies and I was jerked out of bed at all hours of the night I still managed to be up with the sunrise. I guess I must have been more tired than I thought."

Nephrite huffed a quiet laugh. "Well it was almost morning when I dropped you off. And after the night we had it's understandable that you would sleep in some." He slid an omelet from the skillet and onto a waiting plate. "I hope you like this. It's my own secret recipe."

"I'm sure it will be fine," she replied as she poured herself a glass of juice. "I'll try just about anybody's cooking except Serena's. That girl is an absolute menace in the kitchen. I keep trying to teach her some things, but she always manages to mess them up, except for curry for some reason. She can pull off a decent curry, but everything else turns into a disaster."

Nephrite shook his head. "You would think that someone that adores food as much as Serena does would be an excellent cook."

"Ah, but that's just it. Serena enjoys eating food, not cooking it," Lita drawled as she replaced the juice in the refrigerator. Then she turned to smirk at him. "All she cares about is getting the food into her stomach. She's not interested in what goes into getting it ready for her to inhale."

"I know what you mean. I've seen the girl eat," he agreed. "I don't know if it's her high scout metabolism or the fact that she was Lunarian in her past life, but whatever it is she's lucky she doesn't weigh a ton."

Lita laughed softly as she took a seat at the table. "You're right there. She can definitely pack it away." Then her expression darkened some. "I need to go by and see her."

Nephrite carried the plate with the omelet on it over and set it on the table as he also took a seat. "You're not going to jump all over her about last night, are you?"

She shrugged. "Not too much. I'll leave that part to Raye. But I am going to let her know that I'm not happy about what happened."

"But not until after you've tried my creation," he insisted as he picked up a fork and cut off a bite of the omelet. He held it toward her lips as an invitation to try it.

Lita took the bite, expecting it to taste like any other omelet. But she was shocked when a multitude of flavors burst across her tongue. Her eyes widened as she swallowed. "What all did you put in that?"

He grinned and cocked back his chair. "It's my little secret."

She growled and snatched the fork out of his hand to take another bite. She closed her eyes and moaned at the taste. "You have got to give me this recipe. I've got to have it."

He watched her thoughtfully for a moment, taking pleasure from the look of bliss on her face as she attacked the omelet with a gusto that would make Serena proud. Then he replied casually, "If you promise to spend the day with me, I'll give you my recipe."

She looked up at him with a grin. "You're on!"

* * *

"Mmm…" Mina moaned, still half asleep, as she felt warm lips moving across her bare shoulder. The moan turned into a giggle when teeth nibbled gently on the sensitive skin where her shoulder and neck met. A deep, husky chuckle answered her and she turned her head slightly, opening her hazy blue eyes to look into a pair of clear silvery-gray ones.

She stretched a little, enjoying the slip and slide of Kunzite's burnt orange colored silk sheets against her naked body. "Good morning," she mumbled around a yawn.

A grin kicked up one side of his mouth. "It's almost afternoon now, love. I figured I better wake you up before you slept the day away."

She frowned as she took in his appearance. He had recently showered and shaved and was impeccably dressed in a light blue button down shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. "How long have you been up?"

He shrugged. "For a while. I had some work that needed tending to, so I figured I'd let you sleep while I took care of that. Besides, you look beautiful sleeping in my bed."

Her heart sped up a little at his words, but she was still slightly annoyed. "I must be doing something wrong," she muttered. "There is no way that you should have been up so early, much less looking as disgustingly chipper as you do right now. It was early morning when we got here and we didn't go to sleep for a good long while after that. So obviously I'm not doing something right. Some love goddess I am!"

It took Kunzite a moment to process what she meant, but when he did he smothered a laugh in her hair. He heard her let out a growl of irritation and then felt her poke him in the ribs, so he raised his head to find her glaring at him furiously.

"I'm so glad that you find this funny, because I see nothing humorous about it at all!" she snapped as she pushed him forcibly away from her.

Amusement still glinted in his eyes as he watched her scramble from the bed with nothing but her long golden hair covering her body. He bit back his laughter and tried to sound serious. "Mina, love, I can assure you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your…_performance_."

"Oh!" she squeaked, slapping her hands to her burning cheeks as she spun away from him, giving him a rather nice glimpse of her backside as her hair flew around her.

It was times like these that Kunzite had to remind himself that Mina was not the venerated love goddess that he remembered from the end of the Silver Millennium. Instead she was more like Minako had been when he first started pursuing her so long ago. She was wise beyond her years in the ways of love, but she was also young and, up until just recently, virginal. Minako had been the same way when they had started a physical relationship. She had been bold and daring, but she had still retained a slight shy streak. She would overcome that in time. He just had to stay supportive.

He slid from the bed and approached her carefully, noting how rigidly she was holding her body. Her shoulders trembled under his fingers as he turned her toward him. Her face was still red, but she kept her head down and her gaze fixed on the floor. He cupped her chin in his hand and gently pulled her head up to look at him.

Her china blue eyes were glassy with tears as she stared at him. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm not a very good love goddess after all."

And for a moment Kunzite was thrown back in time…

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

Sweat covered his skin and his arms trembled with the effort of holding his weight up so as to not crush the woman beneath him. He could feel her heart pounding against his where their chests touched and her breathing was ragged in his ear as her sobbing moans quieted into whimpers. Both of their bodies shivered occasionally as aftershocks of pleasure skittered through them.

He felt her arms tighten around him in an attempt to draw him closer to her, but instead he pulled away, rolling off of her to sit on the edge of the bed as he reached for his clothes.

Silk sheets whispered against her skin as she sat up behind him. "Kunzite…?" she whispered hesitantly.

"Yes, Minako," he replied without looking at her.

A tiny sound caught in her throat before she asked, "Is everything all right? You seem anxious to leave."

He pulled his tunic over his head and stood to draw his pants up. "I need to return to my own quarters before someone discovers me here. That's all. It would cause a lot of unnecessary conflict if it became known that we had been intimate together. After all, I'm supposed to be here to support Endymion in his trade negotiations with Queen Serenity, not to indulge in my own personal pleasures."

He reached for his belt that held his scabbard and sword and as he belted it around his waist, he strengthened his resolve. He and Minako had not been together for very long, but she had already become the most important person in his life besides his prince. He would like nothing more than to stay with her and keep her in his arms the entire night, but he couldn't. Tensions between the Earth and Moon were tenuous at best, and the rebellion was keeping a close watch for any sign of a union between the earth prince and moon princess. If word got out that the head of Endymion's guard was romantically involved with the leader of Serenity's scouts it could lead to an instant revolution.

He took a deep, fortifying breath and turned to face the bed…only to feel his heart stutter at the sight before him.

Minako, his brave Sailor Venus, was knelt on the bed, her golden hair draped around her like a cloak. Her hands were clenched into fists on her knees and her entire body shook. Her head was bowed, hiding her eyes from him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered tremulously. "I know you are used to more experienced women than I am. I am a shame to my family lineage and a failure as a love goddess. You don't have to continue coming to see me. I understand."

He braced a knee on the mattress and reached to tilt her face up to his. Using his thumbs, he wiped away the tears that were falling from her eyes. "Minako, you are anything but a shame or a failure and I'm sure you make Aphrodite proud. You are a beautiful person, both inside and out, and I love you just the way you are."

Her eyes filled with hope. "Really?"

"Really," he reassured her. Then he placed his lips next to her ear and whispered, "And there is nothing wrong with your…_technique_. The way you make love to me is amazing."

He felt her face flame as she burrowed into his chest and he held her close.

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

So here he was, a thousand years later, in a similar situation, and with a girl who was not exactly the same, but who carried the same soul. And once again she was questioning herself about whether or not she was a good enough lover for him.

Mina was still staring up at him with those wide blue eyes, and her tears had spilled over to roll down her cheeks. With a huge sense of déjà vu, he cupped her face in his hands and wiped the wetness away with his thumbs.

"Mina," he said softly. "You are a beautiful and amazing woman, and I wouldn't have you any other way. And as far as our physical relationship goes, when you make love to me I feel like I am the luckiest man alive."

Her face burned a brighter red, but she still squealed as she launched herself at his chest. "I love you!"

He gave her a hug and chuckled. "I love you too. But right now I would love you even more if you put some clothes on. You're giving me naughty ideas standing there in nothing but your birthday suit. And while I normally wouldn't mind a round or two in the bed, we need to go by Darien's and check up on things."

"You're right," she sighed, and then stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Just let me grab a quick shower and we can go." Then she arched a blonde brow at him. "But later, general, you're all mine." She swayed her hips as she walked into the bathroom.

Kunzite chuckled as the door closed behind her. Yep! She was just like Minako sometimes. He better go ahead and start preparing himself now, because he already knew that he was in for a wild ride once she got over her insecurities and fully embraced her passionate nature.

* * *

"Ohh…I am so full!" Serena groaned as she and Darien walked out of the quiet little bistro that they had just had a somewhat later than planned lunch.

If only they had left the apartment earlier they would have avoided the ambush, but Raye and Jadeite had shown up right as they were about to leave and it had taken Serena close a half an hour to calm the rampaging fire priestess. Then, just as they were wrapping up, Amy and Zoicite had arrived, followed not long after by Lita and Nephrite. Mina and Kunzite had been the last to show.

Serena had borne her friend's chastising with grace and acceptance, apologizing over and over for worrying all of them the way she had. But finally her hunger had gotten the better of her and she had told all of them to go do something productive with their day so that she could go have the lunch that was promised to her.

So finally, she was fed, and she felt much better for it. She held Darien's hand tightly as they stepped out into the hot afternoon.

Beside her, her dark haired boyfriend chuckled. "I would hope that you're full after eating all of that. I thought the waitress's chin was going to hit the floor when she took your order."

"I don't care," she replied airily. "It was all so good."

Darien shook his head. "I would suggest walking off some of that food, but it's too damn hot."

"Yeah, it is," she agreed, pushing her bangs up with one hand so that the almost nonexistent breeze could try to dry the sweat that she already felt popping out on her forehead.

Darien led her to his car and helped her in before hurrying around to get in the driver's side and start it up. They both sighed as air began blowing out of the vents.

"So where to?" Serena asked in slightly forced tone. They had kept the conversation light during their meal, neither one of them bringing up any subjects that may disturb the peace. But now that it was over it was time for things to turn serious.

Darien wrapped his fingers tightly around the steering wheel as he leaned his head back against the seat's headrest. "I don't know. At first I thought we could go to our bench in the park, but with this heat…We need someplace quiet where no one will disturb us."

"And preferably air conditioned," Serena tried to joke lamely. Then she sighed and closed her eyes. "How about Elysian? I'm sure Helios would be willing to take us, and he would give all the space we need. It's also very private and none of our friends can hunt us down there."

"I thought about that," he admitted. "But then I thought we needed a place that was a little more neutral. I don't want you to think that I have a home field advantage."

"Home field advantage!" she snorted. "Like I'm worried about that. I'd be perfectly content with having our little talk at your apartment if Rini wasn't there and we didn't have to worry about people dropping in."

"Fine! We'll go to Elysian then," he said tersely as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. In just a few minutes he was pulling into his parking space in the garage of his apartment building. He turned off the ignition and pocketed his keys before muttering, "Helios."

White light filled the car, and when it faded the dream priest was sitting in the backseat. He inclined his head respectfully. "Yes, your highness."

Darien rolled his eyes at the appellation. "Serena and I need a quiet place to talk. We were wondering if you would take us into Elysian for a while so that we can have some privacy."

"Of course," Helios responded. "Of course you could have just come there yourself if you wanted to."

Darien gritted his teeth. "I don't know how."

"My apologies, my prince," Helios rushed to say. "I confused you with your future self for a moment."

He leaned forward and placed a hand on both Serena and Darien's shoulders. A flash of light later, and they were standing by a fountain in the middle of a beautiful rose garden.

Serena and Darien both took a moment to look around curiously. They had only been to Elysian once, the night that the Golden Crystal had been returned to Darien and they had faced off against Nehelenia, and it had been a dark and dismal place then. Now it was bright, sunny…and absolutely beautiful.

After they had taken in their surroundings, their attention refocused on one another. Helios, sensing the tension between them, began to edge away.

"Um, I'll just leave you two alone now," he said hesitantly. "Call for me when you wish to return to the outside world." He hurried around the fountain, pausing for just a moment on the other side to murmur something under his breath. Darien looked to see what he was doing, but he was already darting down one of the paths toward the palace a short distance away.

'_That's funny,' _Darien thought. _'I could have sworn that there was a small statue over there just a minute ago, and now it's gone. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me.' _He turned his focus back to Serena.

"So," she said as she took a seat on one of the benches. "Now that we're here, where do we start?"

Her tone was a little defensive, making him sigh and rake a hand through his hair. "I don't want to fight anymore Serena. I had the chance to do a lot of thinking last night when I didn't know where you were. And then, when I thought you were dead…" his voice broke.

Serena had been shocked earlier when everybody had filled her in on the report that they had heard over the police scanner and had been horrified when she found out that, for just a brief moment, they had feared that it was her. She had known that she had worried her friends, but she hadn't meant to almost scare them to death.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, much as she had when he had found her huddled under the tree in her yard. "I didn't mean to."

He looked up at her, eyes blazing with emotion. "I know you didn't, and it's in the past. But if you ever pull another stunt like that again…"

"I won't," she promised him quickly. "So what did you think about?"

He began pacing in front of her, a dead giveaway that his mind was racing at about 100mph. Serena knew his moods well, so she remained quiet to let him sort through his thoughts.

After a few minutes he stopped and looked at her again. "I know you think that I haven't taken your opinions into consideration, but I have. I have heard and listened to every word you've had to say to me about going to Harvard. I have gone through so many emotions about all this that I've lost track of them. I've been depressed because I thought you were trying to push me away, scared that our relationship was beginning to fall apart, and angry because I thought you wanted me to leave because you'd had a taste of life without me and liked it better."

"Oh, Darien, no! That's not it at all!" she cried as tears sprang to her eyes. "All I have ever wanted was what was best for you, for you to be able to live your dreams and have no regrets about your life. I would never want you out of my life, but I'm not selfish enough to hold onto you for myself when you have so much ahead of you."

A sad smile turned up his lips. "That's where you and I differ. I am selfish enough to want you all to myself. In my perfect world there would be no one but you and me. If I could I would close us away from everyone so that you would be safe. I can't do that though. You have too much vitality and zest for living. You wouldn't be happy being isolated from your friends and family, and I know that. That is why I have devoted myself to keeping you as safe as I possibly can. That was why I brought the generals back. Sure, I missed them, and I enjoy having them around, but ultimately I saw them as another line of defense to stand between you and anyone that wished to harm you."

"I don't believe that," Serena said softly. "Sure, we all have moments of selfishness from time to time, but you are not a selfish person. Even I am not immune to them. Do I want to see you leave? No. If I could I would never let you out of my sight again. I have lost you or almost lost you more times than I care to count. Deep down I am terrified that if I let you get on another plane that I will turn back into the same person I was all last fall and winter. I'll put on a happy smile to hide what I'm really feeling from everyone else, and then I'll run home everyday to check the mail to find nothing there and spend all night sitting by the phone praying for you to call and you never do. But part of my brain tells me that I'm being illogical, that things are different now and I have no right to hold you back from living your life. We made a promise to each other, remember, right after we found out about Rini and Crystal Tokyo. We promised that we wouldn't let what we know about our future interfere with our lives now. I know you will make a wonderful doctor, for however long you get to be one, and I want you to be the best one you can be. And if that means that we have to spend some time apart, then so be it. We'll deal with it."

She was panting by the end of her impassioned speech, her eyes bright as she looked at him almost like she was challenging him to rebuke any of her claims.

He couldn't, and he knew it. Everything that she had said had been open, honest, and truthful. She had been forthcoming with both her fears and her hopes. And he found himself wondering, yet again, exactly when his little Meatball Head had become so grown up. It seemed like only yesterday she had been fourteen, slurping down milkshakes and playing video games at the Crown. She still did that, but there was a maturity around her now that hadn't been there before.

He approached her slowly and then pulled her up and into his arms. He looked down into her crystalline eyes and murmured in his best, husky, Tuxedo Mask voice, "Would you miss me if I left?"

She nodded as she stared up into his sapphire depths. "Every moment of every day until I had you in my arms again," she barely breathed.

His old smirk appeared on his face. "Well then you better enjoy me while you can, princess, because come fall I'm Harvard bound."

Serena burst into tears and flung her arms tightly around his neck, pressing her face into his shoulder as she cried. "I love you and I will miss you, but I'm so happy for you at the same time. You're going to get to live one of your dreams."

He put a hand under her chin to make her look up at him. Her face was wet, her reddened eyes both sad and happy, but overall she appeared thrilled with his decision.

"Promise me that you'll still be here waiting for me when I get back," he forced out in a desperate whisper. "I couldn't bear leaving if I didn't know if you would be here when I come home."

She nodded slowly. "I promise, Darien. I'll be here waiting and counting the days until you come back to me. You just promise me that you will come back."

He lifted her left hand and kissed the pink, heart shaped promise ring she wore there. "That is my promise to you, Serena. I'll come back to you. I'll always come back to you. No matter what."

And then he pulled her tight against him to seal their promises with a kiss.

* * *

**A/N **Well it's about dang time! It only took sixteen chapters, but Darien finally listened to reason and decided that it is in his best interest to go to Harvard. I didn't think that boy would ever wake up and smell the roses! I hope you guys also enjoyed all the other little tidbits about our other couples, including Rini and Helios. And I'm sure those of you that have read _Lunar Princess _caught my little foreshadowing hints, the biggest one, of course, was right near the end when Helios hid Melody's statue so that Darien and Serena wouldn't see it. The other one was pretty obvious as well when Rini recalled talking to a dark blonde haired woman about people keeping secrets from her. I'm sure my _LP _and _GT _readers knew immediately who she was. And will we catch a glimpse of a certain shadowy someone before this story's end? Hmm…perhaps. But my lips are sealed. I'm not sure how much longer this story will be, maybe a few more chapters before we reach the end. Good grief! I've been a blabbermouth! Okay, so don't forget to drop me those reviews and let me know what you thought. Pretty please! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	17. Important Update

Hi everyone! I know most of you have clicked on this hoping that this would be an update for this story, but unfortunately it is not. First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Sara and I am Christi's (Sere-chan's) cousin and occasional partner in crime. Some of you may know me better as Mina-chan from some of Sere's author's notes in the past. Anyway, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my cuz wanted me to dash off a quick note to let all of her readers know why none of her stories have been updated in a while. Last week she was involved in a pretty major car accident. She's doing okay now and she's resting comfortably at home after having to spend a few days in the hospital, but she's understandably not feeling up to par and has a couple of bad injuries that have really slowed her down, the worst one, in her opinion, being that her right arm is in a cast that makes it almost impossible for her to type. But she wants me to let everybody know that she is okay and the story ideas are still flowing through her head. She also wants me to reassure you all that the stories she has in progress will be finished. In fact, she has given me her precious flash drive with the rough copies of what she has written, and with her help I am going to try to get the chapters ready for posting. Pretty much, I'll be doing all of the finger work while she dictates what she wants and she will have final say over editing and whether or not a chapter is ready, so she's still the boss. There is also a Halloween story that she has been trying to get together that we hope to be able to post some time this month.

So we're hoping that everyone can please be patient for just a little while longer while we work together to update these stories and we hope to continue GT, Bad Boys, and Rekindled very soon. Sere says to send out lots of love and hugs as always, and that she will be back in full control as quickly as she possibly can. Thanks for reading! Later!

Sere-chan (Christi) and Mina-chan (Sara)


	18. Love, Lust, Lechery, and Longing Part 1

A/N Freedom! I finally got that stupid cast off my arm, and it feels great! Okay, so I still have to wear a brace to keep my wrist as still as possible, but I can use my fingers again and it feels so weird. Typing is still a tiny bit awkward, but nothing like it was. I'm on my way to being back in business! Yay! I even drove yesterday for the first time since the accident. It was scary, for sure, but at the same time it was liberating. Now I just have to go shopping for a new car, because mine was totaled. (Sighs) I was hoping that my ride could be fixed, but it was as trashed as I was after the wreck.

Anyway, huge thanks to my cuz, Sara (Mina-chan), for all of her help while I have been out of commission. I know that I'm definitely not the world's easiest person to get along with, especially when it comes to my OCDness with my stories, but she hung in there and we only had a few spats along the way. In fact, she came up with several really good ideas of her own and we've discussed the possibility of perhaps doing a joint story in the future. We'll see. But hugs and kisses to you girl! You are the best.

Geez! Look what happens. I get my fingers back and I start babbling like a mad woman. I'm probably driving you all batty by now. Okay, quick rundown here. This chapter and what has already been written of the next one are devoted entirely to the scouts and generals. Serena and Darien don't appear in this chapter at all, and if they do show up in the next one it will be brief. I just wanted to take some time to reflect on my other couples, although Mina and Kunzite kind of dominate the end a bit. Oh, and I apologize in advance to anyone that's not familiar with the _Codename: Sailor V _storyline, because there are quite a few references to it near the end of the chapter. Of course, I twisted it around just a bit, like changing the location and such, to fit in with this story. I hope it doesn't confuse anyone too much.

Okay! So I was going to give out my hugs, (Squeals – I can do hugs again!), but between the reviews for the last official chapter and all of you that sent me get well wishes the list would go on forever, so BIG HUGS TO EVERYONE! We'll get back on track next chapter. But really, thank you to all of you. Your well wishes and inspiring words were a great comfort to me. Now I'm going to let you get on with it.

**_ENJOY!_**

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 17

Love, Lust, Lechery, and Longing Part 1

* * *

"Well, here we are," Amy announced as Zoicite's Mercedes pulled up in front of her father's cabin.

Zoicite took a moment to take in the scene. The cabin wasn't really a cabin; it was more of a modest sized, two-story house that had been built in a log cabin style. It was nestled in a large clearing in the middle of the woods and was surrounded by a lawn of emerald green grass and well-maintained flowerbeds full of colorful flowers and plants.

"Your father lives here alone?" he asked in surprise. This place didn't have the look of being the residence of a middle aged divorced man. If anything, it appeared to be a warm and inviting family home.

Amy giggled. "Not quite what you were expecting when I said 'cabin in the woods', huh? This is where my dad grew up. My grandfather passed away when I was really little, but my grandmother lived here with dad until she passed on a few years ago. She always loved tending her flowerbeds, and dad has kept them up since then. He's a bit of a naturist at heart."

"Definitely not what I was expecting," he agreed as he opened the car door to get out. He rounded the front bumper to the passenger side and opened the door for Amy.

She flashed him a smile as she picked her purse up from the floorboard and accepted his hand to help her out. She eyed the blue, full sized pickup truck nearby and commented, "We made good time. I was afraid that we wouldn't get here before he had to leave for the airport."

Zoicite smiled and nodded, although inside he was feeling slightly apprehensive. It had been one thing to meet Amy's mom, but now he was going to meet her father, and that was an entirely different thing altogether. Although John Mizuno wasn't in Amy's everyday life, he could tell from the loving and respectful way that Amy spoke about him that father and daughter were still extremely close. And most fathers, with the exception of Raye's, who had proven himself to be a horse's ass, tended to be highly protective of their daughters.

The front door of the house opened and out stepped the man that Zoicite recognized from a few pictures that he had seen around Amy's apartment. He was a little older than he had appeared in the photos, but he sure didn't look like a man that was old enough to have a grown daughter. In fact, he reminded Zoicite a lot of Kunzite and Nephrite with his tall, wide shouldered frame and trim, yet muscular physique. No gray had appeared yet in his slightly curly brown hair and only a few lines framed his chocolate brown eyes.

A wide smile appeared on John Mizuno's face and he opened his arms. "There's my little girl!"

Amy dropped Zoicite's hand and squealed, "Daddy!" as she ran nimbly up the porch steps and threw herself into her father's arms.

He engulfed her in a giant bear hug. "You made good time. I thought for sure I was going to have to leave before you got here."

She laughed in reply. "I guess that's because Zoicite drove. His car has quite a bit more power than my little Honda."

John turned his eyes on Zoicite, who had wandered up the steps behind Amy. He released her and took a few steps toward the younger man with his hand extended. "So you're Zoicite. How do you do? I'm John."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Zoicite responded politely as he shook his hand. He readied himself for the age old contest of squeezing that always seemed to happen when two men met for the first time and were trying to size one another up, but John merely gave his hand a firm, friendly shake and then released it.

"So," John drawled with a grin. "You're the one that finally caught my Amy's eye and drew her out of her shell. It's about time. I was starting to get a little worried about her. Most girls her age have already been in and out of love five or six times by now and I was beginning to think that she was going to get left behind."

Amy slapped her hands to her red, burning cheeks and let out an almost Serena-like wail. "Daaaadd! Stop it!"

He merely chuckled. "I'm only picking on you, sweetheart. Now, let's get you two settled in before I have to run. Do you need any help with the bags, Zoicite?"

Zoicite grinned. "No sir, I think I can handle it."

"Then we'll see you inside," John said as he steered Amy toward the door. " C'mon Ames. I know the puppies will be happy to see you again."

Amy's laugh floated back to Zoicite as she walked inside. "Puppies my foot! I've seen horses smaller than they are."

Zoicite shook his head in amusement as he hopped down off the porch and walked back toward his car. He pressed the button on his keychain to open the trunk and reached in to pull out Amy's small suitcase, his overnight bag, and both of their laptop cases. The more time he spent with Amy, the more enchanted he became with the playful, fun loving side of her that she usually kept hidden away behind her serious, studious persona. It was a part of her that he had rarely seen when she had lived as Ami. As the lead tactical and medical officer for the Imperial Scouts, she had focused most of her time and energy on her job, only taking occasional breaks to relax and have fun. In this life she wasn't as pressured, and her inner self had flourished. She was still serious and dedicated to her studies, but the more laid back side of her came out more often.

He closed the trunk and gathered up the bags before walking back toward the house. As he approached the screen door the sound of giggles reached him. He shouldered the door open and entered the entry hall. He left the bags there before following the giggles to a large doorway that led into a rustic looking living room.

There, in the middle of the room, was Amy, being practically mauled by what had to be two of the largest dogs he had ever seen. One was white with black spots, and the other was a light, tannish-brown. And both of them, on all fours, were every bit as tall as Amy.

He chuckled. "You weren't kidding. Are they dogs or Shetland ponies?"

She squealed as the spotted one licked half of her face with one swipe of his massive tongue. "They're overgrown teddy bears, that's what they are." She pushed the spotted head away. "This one is Xypher. The brown one is Zephyr."

John let out a whistle. "Okay, that's enough! Sit boys!" (a/n Inuyasha flashback here. I have Kagome stuck in my head now. LOL!)

Both dogs immediately sat, but they wriggled like they had sat on anthills and tiny whines came from their throats.

Amy rolled her eyes. "And just how long do you expect that to last, Dad? I've been telling you for a long time that they need to go through some obedience training."

John chuckled. "So it took me a while to get them to sit on command. They finally grasped the concept. Besides, they're not bad dogs, just a little hyper." Then he glanced at the clock on the wall. "I guess I better get going if I want to make my flight in time."

He turned to shake Zoicite's hand again. "I hate to say hi and bye like this. I'd stay and give you the grand tour, but Amy knows where everything is."

Zoicite nodded. "I understand, sir. Have a good trip."

"I'll see you when you get back," Amy told her father as she gave him a parting hug.

John stepped back and chucked her under the chin. "Keep the home fire burning for me, kiddo. And try to have some fun while you're here. I'm sure you could use a little relaxation time. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Dad!" she exclaimed in horror as she felt her face flame yet again. It seemed she'd spent a lot of time blushing lately.

John just laughed as he walked toward the front door, tossing a wave over his shoulder. "See ya in a couple of days."

Amy and Zoicite stood in silence until the roaring sound of her father's truck faded into the distance. The awkward moment was finally broken when the two dogs jumped up and ran to a set of glass doors that opened out into a large, fenced in yard.

Amy giggled as she walked over to them. "Okay, I can take a hint. Go on!" she told them as she opened the door so that the mammoth dogs could rush outside.

She turned back to Zoicite with a blinding smile. "I guess I should show you where you can put your stuff, and then I'll give you the tour of the rest of the house."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed with a grin and followed her back into the entry hall where they retrieved their bags. As they climbed the stairs, he took a moment to glance at a few of the photos that lined the wall.

There was an older couple in a few of them, Amy's grandparents he assumed since a much younger version of John stood between them in one, wearing a high school graduation cap and gown. But two pictures in particular caught his attention more than the others.

One of them must have been taken before John and Anne's marriage had fallen apart. The happy couple in the picture was laughing and windblown as they sat beside the bank of a small stream with fishing rods in their hands. A tiny, toddler Amy was between them, holding her own small rod in her chubby hands with a small fish dangling from the end of the line. A huge smile lit up her round, flushed face.

The other picture showed the woman that he had identified as being Amy's grandmother. The resemblance between Mrs. Mizuno and her son was almost uncanny. They had the same warm brown eyes and hair, although a few tiny streaks of gray had begun creeping through the older woman's chocolate colored waves. The picture depicted her sitting in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch, cradling a blanket wrapped bundle that could only be a baby in her arms. The tufts of dark blue hair sticking up over the blanket's edge told him the baby's identity right away.

"Zoicite?" Amy's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Are you okay?"

He looked at her questioningly, and then realized that he had come to a stop in the middle of the staircase. He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I'm fine." He nodded to the photo. "Is that you and your grandmother?"

Amy looked at the picture in question and smiled. "Yes, that's my granny. I was only a few days old in that picture. We came here to stay for a while after I was born so that she could help mom and dad out with taking care of me. My mom is originally from Kyoto, and all of her family still lives there. She came to Tokyo to go to college and then never left, so we were lucky that dad's parents were relatively close by."

"Is your father an only child?" he asked as he started up the stairs again.

"Uh huh," Amy replied as they entered the upstairs hallway. "There are a few cousins scattered out there, but the Mizuno family is actually very small. Mom's side of the family, on the other hand, is huge. She's the middle child of nine and has four brothers and four sisters. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that I'm related to half of Kyoto. We visit there as often as we can, but even I have a hard time keeping all the names, faces, and how we are related straight."

She stopped in the middle of the hall and began gesturing to doors. "My dad's room and my granny's room are on this side. The door between them is the bathroom. My room is at the end of the hall, so I guess you can have the front room here by the stairs. Is that okay with you?"

'_Hell no! I'd rather be in your room with you!' _Zoicite thought vehemently, but he kept his lecherous thoughts to himself as he smiled and nodded. "It's fine. I don't care as long as I have some place to lay my head."

Amy's mouth popped open like she wanted to say something, and then snapped closed again as pink stained her cheeks. After a moment she nodded and mumbled, "Well, I'm going to put my things away. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Zoicite watched as she hurried away, unable to keep himself from admiring the way her hips swayed as she walked. Good Lord! He had been hanging around with Jadeite entirely too much lately. His fellow general's perversion was beginning to rub off on him.

'_Who are you trying to kid?' _he snorted to himself as he pushed open the door and walked into the moderately sized, comfortably furnished room that he had been given. _'Your lustful side always came out when you were around Ami, and it's the same when you are with Amy. You shouldn't be surprised by that now.'_

He wasn't surprised exactly. He had a reputation for always being calm and even tempered, Jadeite and Nephrite sometimes even went as far as calling him a prude, but he really wasn't. He was just the type of person that preferred to look at things rationally and didn't feel the need to spend every waking moment in idle chatter.

But he was still a man. And like any man, he wasn't immune to the effects of being around a beautiful woman, especially when it was a woman as captivating as Amy.

He set his bags down on the floor and then sank onto the edge of the queen-sized bed as he buried his face in his hands. He had always prided himself on his self-control, and he had been pleased with the way he had been conducting himself with his girlfriend in the weeks since they had been seeing each other. That wasn't to say that they hadn't had any steamy moments between them. There had been some heavy make out sessions that involved a lot of kissing and touching of bare skin, but those usually ended up with them either being interrupted by someone or by his sense of chivalry.

But he couldn't deny that it was becoming harder and harder to keep from acting on his desires for Amy. In fact, there had been a really close call a couple of nights before. They had been in his sitting room after going out to dinner. It had started out innocently enough with them watching the news on TV while curled up on the couch together and sharing a few kisses. As time went on, the kisses grew longer and more frequent. And before he known it he had been on top of Amy with one hand under her shirt and the other one sliding up her thigh, past the hem of her skirt, while her fingers had found a way under his shirt and were playing across his back.

He had been resentful, yet at the same time grateful, that Nephrite had knocked on his door about that time to see if they wanted to go play miniature golf with him and Lita. There was no telling how far things would have gone between them if they hadn't been interrupted. He had written the whole thing off as a moment of temporary insanity caused by the two glasses of wine he'd had at dinner, and after a restless night he had once again been in control of himself.

But he knew that he was only deluding himself. Amy was his soul mate, and the bond between them was every bit as strong as it had been when her past self and himself had been together during the Silver Millennium. It was only natural for him to want to have a complete and fulfilling relationship with her. But things between them weren't exactly the same as they had been before.

They were a little farther apart in age than they had once been, since she had been reincarnated and he hadn't, but that didn't bother him. He was only twenty-three while she was a very mature seventeen. And besides, there was a similar age gap between all of the scouts and generals now, and it wasn't stopping any of the other guys from pursuing their soul mates.

But the truth was that in reality, he and Amy had only been together for about a month, and he didn't want her to think that he was trying to push their relationship too fast. Though the way she responded to him made him think that she was willing to take the next step, he wanted to make sure he did everything right. He'd lost her once…and he sure didn't want to risk losing her again.

Although nothing had been said out loud, it was no secret that Kunzite had spent a few nights away from home and that Mina had stayed at the penthouse overnight a few times as well. And everyone knew, without saying a word, that the two of them weren't spending their evenings playing board games or talking about the weather.

He wasn't entirely sure what the status between Nephrite and Lita or Jadeite and Raye was, but if the chemistry between the two explosive couples was anything like it had been in the past, he'd be willing to bet money that they would be sleeping with each other soon if they weren't already.

"Stop acting like such a girl!" he growled to himself as he raised his head and then stood up. "Things will develop between you and Amy when they are supposed to happen. And sitting around dwelling on when and where would be the right time to make a move isn't going to accomplish anything."

His mind made up, he set his overnight bag on the bed and opened it to take out a few items.

So what if they were alone, except for two horse-sized dogs, in the middle of nowhere with no one around for miles to interrupt them. That didn't automatically mean that his brain had to take an immediate nosedive straight into the gutter.

And surely he could be man enough and mature enough to handle spending two days alone with his girlfriend without turning into a depraved, hormone driven animal…right?

Yeah…sure…he could do that…he hoped.

* * *

"Wow!" Jadeite exclaimed as he looked around in amazement. "You weren't kidding about this place. This reminds me exactly of the market days back during the Silver Millennium."

Raye huffed a short laugh. "Well did you think I was making it up?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all. It's just that I never thought I'd see anything like this here. The world is a lot different now than what it used to be."

She rolled her eyes. "Not everything is high tech, you know. There are still some places where things are done the old fashioned way. Just look at where I live, in a simple, quiet shrine in the middle of one of the largest, busiest cities in the world. How's that for a contradiction?"

"I guess you have a point," he agreed. "I've had my head so filled up lately with everything that's new and modern that I never stopped to think about it. This is nice though."

She shot a glance at him. "Does it bring up some old memories for you?"

He shrugged. "A few. Believe it or not, there's a lot about the past that's really fuzzy and hard to remember. Sometimes the Silver Millennium seems more like a dream than a reality. I mean, I do remember a lot of things, like from my childhood and growing up in the palace with Endymion and the other guys. I remember seeing you, well, the past you anyway, for the first time when we were kids. And I definitely remember meeting you again years later after we had grown. There are a lot of other memories mixed in there, but I feel like there are large holes in what I do remember."

"I know how you feel," she mumbled. "It's the same for us girls. When Serena reclaimed the Silver Crystal we got some of our memories of the past, enough for us to remember what happened and remind us what our duties are. Every now and then I'll remember something new or catch a glimpse of a memory, but I definitely don't remember it all. Amy thinks that Queen Serenity locked most of our memories away so that we could live this life without constantly being bombarded by our pasts. And I guess that makes sense. Normally speaking, people who have been reincarnated don't usually remember their earlier lives."

He nodded thoughtfully. "It does make sense. Zoicite said something similar when we guys were talking about why we don't remember more than we do, since we're not reincarnations. He thinks that Queen Serenity's magic affected us as well and muddled up some of our memories. Perhaps she knew that one day we would be able to return to the living and thought that we would be better off without so many thoughts of the past cramming our heads. Of course he's a bit of a conspiracy theorist as well, and he said that maybe there was something bad that happened that Queen Serenity just doesn't want us to remember."

"That's absurd!" Raye snorted. "If Queen Serenity wanted to keep horrible memories from us, I'm sure she would have at least muddled up what we remember about that last day instead of letting us remember all of it."

"That's what we said," he replied smoothly. "We told him that he was crazy for thinking that and that he needed to pull his head out of his books and join reality. Anyway, that's enough heavy talk for now. Where should we start our adventure? Is there anything in particular that you're looking for today."

She shook her head. "No, not really. Serena's birthday is next week, and I do need to see about getting something for her. I have no idea yet about what to get her though, so I'll just have to do some browsing and see if anything catches my eye. But let's grab something to eat first. You did say something about treating me to lunch, didn't you?"

A grin unfurled on his face. "So I did. And I believe you've earned it since you didn't complain about my driving once on the way here."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm sure your slow driving was only due to the fact that there is a lot of traffic out today and that kept you from being able to showoff in that little hotrod of yours."

"I don't showoff!" he tried to defend himself. "I just drive her like normal and I obey all of the traffic laws. But one of these days I'm going to have to take her out of the city so I can open her up and let her fly. She is a Ferrari after all."

"Oh, Great Spirit!" she muttered. "What is it with you guys and your cars? You talk about them like they are living things. And you always call them _she_. Andrew almost drove us all batty last year when he bought his Mustang, and don't even get me started on Darien and how anal he can get about his precious BMW. It's ridiculous!"

Jadeite merely beamed a smile at her. "I guess it's just a guy thing."

"It has to be," she agreed. "Lita and Amy both have cars, although they don't really drive all that much, and neither one of them act neurotic about them. So yeah, it's definitely got to be a guy thing."

"Well, there is that saying, _Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus_," he drawled. "Of course that doesn't really pertain to us. In our case it would be more like, _Women are from Mars and Men are from Earth_."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, for the love of god! Why did I agree to spend the day with you?"

Jadeite preened like a peacock. "Because you find me sweet, funny, charming, irresistibly handsome, and maybe…" he looked at her hopefully, "…and maybe devastatingly sexy."

Raye was caught so off guard by his comment that she almost didn't react in time to keep a silly little smile from blossoming on her lips. But she managed to catch it and struggled to turn it into a scowl. She swallowed the laugh bubbling in her throat and kept her lips clamped shut as she tried her best to glare at him.

A husky chuckle rumbled from him. "This is a first. I do believe I finally managed to strike you speechless, Firefly."

She was speechless. Her normal response to such a blatant statement would be to start screeching like a banshee about what a pervert he was, but for some reason she couldn't seem to muster up enough indignation to launch one of her typical tirades. It was probably because she couldn't, in all good consciousness, argue with what he said.

She really did think he was sweet. He had proven that when he had helped take care of her when she was sick. Most of his jokes were usually off color, but she always found herself wanting to laugh at them. When he wanted to, he had more charm than should be legal. As for his looks, there was no denying the fact that she thought he ranked at the top of the food chain with his golden curls and bright blue eyes. And as far as sex appeal went, well, let's just say that he oozed enough sexiness to make her heart pound and her knees feel weak.

But she wasn't about to tell him that. At least, not in so many words. Jadeite had always had a tiny bit of an ego problem. It wasn't that he was self-absorbed. She'd always thought that the fact that he was the youngest of Endymion's generals and that he had fought so hard to prove himself to be equal to the other three, slightly older men, had helped mold him into the person he was. He was a self assured, confident man, and there was no denying that he was extremely talented and a fierce fighter, but it seemed that he was always looking for approval and he enjoyed basking in praise when he received it. But he had a tendency of letting that praise go to his head. When Jadeite was riding an ego high he usually became more rambunctious and jokey than usual, and that had a way of severely irritating those around him.

So to save her sanity and that of everyone else they knew, she settled for telling him. "Yes, surprisingly you do have a caring side. You're definitely not stupid, and you can be entertaining and charming at times. You are a handsome man, but you look in a mirror everyday, so I'm sure you don't need me to confirm that."

A smirk grew on his face. "You forgot to tell me how sexy you think I am."

Her face grew red hot. She had been hoping to get around that little detail. Leave it to him to push the issue. She looked down at the ground and mumbled, "Yes, you are sexy. Now can we drop the subject?"

But he was having none of it. He stepped up close to her and lifted her face so her eyes could meet his. "I think you are way beyond sexy."

"Jed!" she exclaimed, jerking her head around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear them as her face grew impossibly hotter. She bet she could fry an egg on her skin in less than five seconds at this point and she was sure that there was no tomato or cherry in existence that would be able to hold a candle to the shade of red she was positive her face had turned.

Thankfully, Jadeite took pity on her and didn't press her any further. He moved to her side and draped an arm around her shoulders, but he couldn't help but chuckle and lean down to whisper in her ear, "You are so cute when you get embarrassed."

Irritation sparkled in her eyes and she glared up at him. "I am _not _embarrassed! I _don't _get embarrassed. And if I did, it would take more than your perverted flirting to get me embarrassed."

The look on his face clearly said that he didn't believe her for a minute, but the last thing he wanted was to start an argument with her. Things between them had been running fairly smooth for the last few days, and he wanted to try to keep things that way for as long as he could, at least as long as was possible with Raye and her combustible personality.

So he gave her an indulgent smile and abruptly changed the subject. "So where's the best place to get something to eat around here? I'm starving!"

She continued to stare at him sternly for a few more seconds before she finally shrugged and gestured to the right. "Most of the food vendors are usually down this way. You can find just about any kind of food you can think of here." Then she shuddered. "And probably some food that you could never imagine. A word to the wise, if you aren't sure what something is, don't get it. Some of the vendors like to sell what they claim is foreign, exotic food, but some of the ingredients are questionable. Lita ordered this wrap one time because she said that she wanted to try something different, and even she, the cuisine expert, couldn't identify what kind of meat was in it."

"Thanks for the warning," Jadeite chuckled. "I'll make sure to stick with something I know."

After taking a few minutes to peruse their choices, they both decided that it would probably be for the best to get something that was easy to eat while walking. There were a few tables set up along the way, but they were all filled to capacity. So they ended up at an Italian stand where they bought calzones, vegetarian for her and three meat for him.

Raye shook her head as they walked away from the booth. "It's a good thing that one of your best friends is a doctor and that we have two more on their way to becoming doctors, because I've got a feeling that you're going to be needing medical attention in the future. Eating all that grease and fat will catch up to you someday and I bet your cholesterol will be through the roof."

Jadeite huffed and puffed; trying to cool off the piping hot bite he had just taken. After several long seconds he was able to swallow and turned to look at her incredulously. "Are you seriously lecturing me on my eating habits? What have we got to worry about? We're young and in great shape. Plus we have the added little bonus of not being exactly normal human beings. Besides, from what I understand, when Crystal Tokyo arrives we'll all be affected by the power of the Silver Crystal. So that will make us practically immortal."

Violet eyes rolled at him. "The Silver Crystal will grant us with long life spans that have the possibility of going on indefinitely, but it won't make us invincible. We will still be susceptible to illness and diseases. And our bodies are mortal, so they can definitely be injured. Death will still be a possibility for us. There is no way to cheat it forever. We just may an extremely long time before we are faced with it. But you won't if you drop dead from a heart attack because your arteries are clogged from eating junk."

"You sound like a nagging wife," he teased her, not backing down under the weight of the black glare she shot at him. "What can I say, sweetheart? I'm a carnivore."

"You're a caveman!" she fired back. "I'm not saying that I never eat meat, but there are other things you can chow down on besides a hunk of dead animal."

A wicked gleam entered his eyes. "I'd like to take a bite out of you," he growled, and then dove for her neck with his lips.

She caught him with a hand to the face and shoved him back. "Would you behave yourself! We are in public!"

He waggled his eyebrows. "I could change that real quick. All we have to do is go to the car and I'll have us back at my place in no time."

Raye stomped her foot in fury. "You never give up, do you? We have only been together for a few days. Did you just expect me to fall into bed with you?"

"No, not really," he replied with a smirk. "But a guy can always dream."

"Well you can just keep on dreaming, buddy!" she snapped. "Just because I enjoy kissing you doesn't mean that I want to do anything else with you!"

His smirk grew. "So you enjoy kissing me, huh?"

"Argh!" she almost screamed, frustrated with herself for letting that line slip out. So much for not inflating his ego. "Knock it off, Jed! If you can't keep your perverted comments to yourself, then you can go ahead and leave. I came here to shop, not to be harassed."

His expression fell, giving him the look of a thoroughly chastised little boy. "I'm sorry. I was just picking with you a little, you know, flirting. I didn't mean to make you mad. You just look so damn cute when you get flustered that I can't help myself." He dropped to his knees in front of her. "Please! Forgive me!"

"Oh! Get up, you!" she grumbled, but she couldn't hide the smile that was twitching her lips. "You're such a drama queen!"

He jumped to his feet and puffed out his chest. "Drama king, thank you very much! I promise you that the body under these clothes is one hundred percent male. But if you want to double check to make sure, then feel free. I don't mind."

"Jadeite…" Raye growled warningly.

"Sorry…sorry!" he apologized hastily. "I promise, no more sexual innuendos, at least for the rest of the afternoon."

"Hmph!" she huffed. "I bet you won't make it ten minutes."

The smile he turned on her was so handsomely brilliant that she felt like her bones were about to melt. "I'll take that bet, if you're willing to put your money where your mouth is."

She tossed her head belligerently, sending her dark curtain of hair sweeping over her shoulder. "You forget who you're talking to. I never back down from a challenge once it's issued. Very well, I accept…on a few conditions."

He arched a brow at her. "And what would those be?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "These are my terms. You have to behave yourself the entire afternoon. That means no joking about anything that could even be remotely sexual."

He nodded. "I'll agree to that, as long as I get a condition of my own. I will refrain from saying anything that could be construed in a perverted way, but I reserve the right to still pay you compliments and flirt with you in a completely casual, non-sexual way."

Her eyes narrowed. "Agreed. Just be careful to think about what you say before you say it. If I pick up on one tiny hint that your mind is sinking into the gutter, the bet is over and I win."

"And what exactly will you win?" he asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I'm still thinking about that one," she muttered, brow crinkling with thought. "I'll think about it and let you know at the end. And that's another thing, neither one of us can demand anything sexual as payment for whoever wins the bet."

He grinned broadly. "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

"Nope!" she answered with a smile of her own. "So are we in agreement on this, general?"

He held out his hand as if to shake hers. "Agreed." Then when she laid her hand in his he raised it to his lips to press a gentle kiss against the back of it. "May the best person win."

Her eyes sparkled brilliantly. "Oh I will! I have no intention of losing this bet. Now I have some shopping to do." She whirled and walked away.

"We'll just see about that, Firefly," he murmured to himself as he followed behind her. "I have no intention of losing this bet either. I am going to be such a perfect gentleman that it will blow your mind. And then I will claim my winnings."

And he was as good as his word. For the next two and half hours he accompanied her as she browsed and shopped, and he was on his most charming behavior. He held her hand as they strolled down the streets and joked lightheartedly with her, being very careful to keep things neutral between them. He remained alert and attentive, even when he was bored to tears by her musings over what to buy and offered to carry all of her packages for her.

It drove Raye absolutely insane! For the first half hour she had been comfortable with his attitude. She even had to admit that she was impressed that he had kept it up as long as he did, but she didn't expect it to last. After an hour had passed she was horrified to find that she was getting bored and that she actually missed his double-edged comments.

Deciding that it was time to up the stakes, she began baiting him. She kept it simple, just touching his arm or shoulder whenever she spoke to him and leaning far over some of the displays so that her shirt gaped open enough to give him a slight peek of cleavage. If anything could snap him out of this Mr. Perfect mode, that would do it.

But she was disappointed when he didn't even bat an eyelash at her deliberate attempts to make him lose the bet. His face remained casual and impassive, even when she dropped something on purpose just so she could bend over to retrieve it.

After she had cruised through the entire market several times, she was close to admitting defeat. She'd had enough shopping and her legs were tired. Wanting to go home and put her feet up for a while, she told Jadeite that she was ready to leave and they began the walk back to his car.

As the black Ferrari came into sight, she began to panic. It was now late in the afternoon and she'd told him that she wanted to go home. It would only take them about ten minutes, barring traffic, for them to reach the shrine. If she didn't crack him before then…she shuddered to think about how he would gloat or what he would demand as payment. At least she knew that she wouldn't have to sleep with him.

'_Although sleeping with him wouldn't be bad at all,' _she thought as she snuck a look at him out the corner of her eyes. She felt herself blush slightly as she drank in his golden surfer-boy looks. She was a healthy, red-blooded young woman after all, and she had indulged in her fair share of fantasies.

She shook her head slightly. Those thoughts weren't helping her win this bet…and she was still determined to beat him. As he hit the remote on his keychain to unlock the doors and then bent down to stow her few purchases on the floorboard of the passenger side, she leaned against the side of the gleaming vehicle and slipped one of her sandals off before raising her foot to massage it.

"Ooo…" she moaned. "My feet are killing me. I've never had a problem with these shoes being uncomfortable before. But then again, I don't think I've ever done so much walking in them before."

Jadeite gave her an indulgent smile. "Then I guess we better hurry up and get you home so you can rest your achy feet for a while."

Where were the sly comments about massaging her feet for her? Where were the leering looks and mischievously glinting eyes? Where was the real Jadeite? Because this guy was seriously starting to creep her out.

For just a moment, she considered pulling a Serena and throwing a wailing fit as she called off the entire bet. But that just wasn't in her nature, and she was pretty sure that it would tickle Jadeite to no end if she cracked before he did. So instead she slid into the waiting seat without a word and stared out the windshield as he closed her door and rounded the car to get in behind the wheel.

Neither of them spoke as he started the car and pulled out of the parking place. It wasn't until they were leaving downtown Juuban and heading in the direction of Cherry Hill that Jadeite glanced over at her with a quick smile and said, "You sure are quiet. You must be tired."

Raye jumped a little; startled out of the daze she had fallen into. "Hmm? Oh…yeah, I guess I am a little tired. That was a lot of walking."

He nodded and replied cordially. "Yes, it was. But I'll have you home soon, and then you can relax."

As the car pulled to a stop at a traffic light, Raye knew that this was her last chance to make him cave. The shrine was only a few blocks away now and she was running out of time.

She shifted in her seat, leaning across the center console to lay her head on his shoulder. She was careful to let her lips lightly brush the skin of his neck as she murmured, "Thank you for going with me. I had a lot of fun." She smiled when she felt a definite shudder ripple through his body.

Jadeite squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he fought back the urge to pull her the rest of the way out of her seat and into his lap. Normally he would have acted on that impulse without thinking twice. He didn't even care that they were sitting at a traffic light at a busy intersection. But he was determined to win this bet. He had spent the last couple of hours deciding what he wanted to claim as his prize for winning, and he had devised a plan.

So he fought back the animalistic urges inside of him and said casually, "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I had fun too." He suppressed a grin when he heard her huff impatiently and slide back over into her seat. He knew exactly what the little minx was up to. He had figured it out the moment that she had leaned over the first time and he had caught a glimpse of soft swells of tanned skin that were barely covered by black lace. But he was stronger than she had given him credit for, and he was going to prove it.

After what felt like an eternity, the light turned green. His emotions were so hyped up that he longed to stomp on the gas so he could hear the tires squeal and the engine snarl, but knowing Raye, he figured that she would accuse him of showing off and try to use it as a deal breaker. So he barely nudged the gas pedal and the car purred smoothly through the intersection.

A few minutes later they pulled up at the shrine steps. He got out quickly and hurried to help her out of the car. Then he gathered up her packages and told her, "I'll walk you up."

She stomped ahead of him up the stairs and he followed behind, doing his best to not look at her swaying hips as she climbed. It wasn't easy to do, and at one point he caught his hand reaching out to cop a feel and barely pulled it back in time, but they made it to the top and into the courtyard without any incidents.

It wasn't until they reached the door to her bedroom that Raye whirled around to face him. "Okay! You win! I've never been one to want to admit defeat, but you have proven me wrong. You win the bet. So what do you want?"

He grinned at her. "Just be ready at 7:30. I'll be here to pick you up then. Dress casually, this won't be a fancy date."

She looked taken back for a second. "A date? That's what you want for winning the bet? You could have just asked me out."

He shook his head. "But this way I know you can't come up with any excuses to try and get out of it. You are honor bound by our bet to hold up your end of the deal."

"Oh fine!" she grumbled as she took her packages from him. "I'll be ready when you get here. But you better not be planning something funny. We agreed on that, remember."

"Of course," he replied. Then he stepped forward to kiss her lightly on the cheek. "I'll see you later then."

He turned and walked away, but after a few steps he turned back to find her staring after him in disbelief. He swallowed a chuckle and asked, "By the way, what were you going to ask for if you had won the bet?"

"Oh!" she squeaked, flushing a little. "Um, it was no big deal. I was just going to ask you to let me drive your car."

His eyes grew round and incredulous. "You…drive my car?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I just wanted to do it once so I could see what all the hype is about sports cars. That's all."

"Oh, okay. See ya later!" he said quickly as he made his escape.

In less than a minute he was back to where he had parked his precious Ferrari and was stroking the glossy paint with a gentle hand as he muttered, "Now I'm definitely glad I won that bet. I love that woman to death, but nobody drives my baby but me. She'd probably drive it into a pole on purpose.

He shuddered at the thought.

* * *

Lita eyed the wide expanse of gleaming, polished wood with no small amount of trepidation. "This is not exactly what I had in mind when you asked me to spend the day with you," she grumbled to the man next to her.

Nephrite looked up, his expression mildly surprised. "Really? I didn't think this would bother you. You were such an accomplished skater in the past that I just naturally thought that you would be in this time too."

She shook her head. "Ice skating I can handle. But roller skating is a whole different story."

He smirked. "Come on, Sailor Jupiter, where's your perfect sense of balance?"

"It flies right out the window the moment I put something with wheels on my feet," she growled. "I don't know what it is, but for some reason I've never been able to get the hang of it. Even Serena can roller skate better than me, and that's saying something since I've never known her to go a whole day without falling on her butt at least twice in the whole time that I've known her."

"Would you like to go do something else then?" Nephrite asked her hesitantly. "I'm sure we can find something, maybe catch a movie…"

"No," she interrupted him. "I'm game to try this again. It's been a while since I've done it, so maybe I've miraculously gotten better at it."

"There's the fighting spirit I've come to expect from you," he cheered. "Don't worry. We had a sport similar to roller-skating on Earth back during the Silver Millennium, and I was pretty good at it. I'll try to keep you upright."

"Here's hoping," she muttered. "I'm just glad this place isn't very busy so there are less people to witness my humiliation.

The old skating rink had been a draw for middle and high school students for decades, but the younger crowd usually didn't show up until nighttime, when the music would be loud and laser lights would be flashing everywhere. During the day it was much more calm and subdued. Right now there were only a handful of other people there, two couples that looked to be in their late twenties and a small group of college students

Nephrite surged to his feet with a casual grace that Lita envied. He smiled gently as he held his hands out to her. "Come on, Sparky! We won't accomplish anything by just sitting here."

Lita bent down to make sure the laces on her skates were tied tightly. Then, with a sigh, she put her hands in his and let him pull her up in front of him.

"Whoa there!" he cautioned as she wobbled unsteadily. He moved his hands to her shoulders to offer support. After a few moments she seemed to steady and he asked, "Are you ready to get out there?"

"No!" she retorted. "But don't feel like standing here like an idiot either. Let's go!"

Nephrite guided her slowly to the rink's edge and stepped onto the wooden surface. He held her hands tightly as she took a deep breath and followed him. The moment her wheels came into contact with the wooden floor they began rolling like they had a mind of their own.

"Whoa!" she screeched, flailing around as she ripped her hands from his so that she could wrap both of her arms around one of his. "I can't believe I'm doing this!"

He wobbled a little as she latched onto him, but despite her height she didn't weigh much and he was able to keep them both on their feet. He gave her a few seconds to get her bearings, and then he carefully removed his arm from her grasp so that he could take one of her hands in his and wrapped the other arm around her waist.

"Okay," he told her, unconsciously slipping into the teaching tone that he had used in the past when he had been instructing companies of soldiers. "Roller skating is not as hard as it seems to be. It's really all about making sure you have your feet in the right place and shifting your weight from one side to the other. Your torso is your center of gravity. So if you can keep it relatively still and balanced and let your legs do most of the work you shouldn't have any trouble staying on your feet."

Lita giggled and turned her head sideways to give him a humorous look. "You sound like you're trying to teach me a new battle strategy, general. Are we going to war?"

He shrugged. "I guess that's one way to look at it. We are marching into a battle, the battle to defeat your nemesis, the mighty roller skates. Our objective for the day is to get you around this rink, under your own power and with no help from me, at least once with no falls."

"You are such a goofball!" she laughed, then grabbed for his sleeve as she tottered slightly.

He chuckled at her wide-eyed expression. "Okay, here we go." He glided forward slowly, taking her with him.

A startled squeak left her throat, but other than that she remained ramrod stiff, just like a rolling statue. It was only thanks to Nephrite's momentum that she was moving at all. She didn't even dare to twitch a toe inside her skates, certain that if she did she would end up either flat on her face or on her butt.

Nephrite remained silent as he guided her around the rink twice, letting her get used to the movement. As they came around to begin their third circuit, he prompted her gently, "Try moving your feet forward, one at a time. Shift the pressure of your body by putting more weight on the foot in front. That will help carry you forward."

She tried to do as he said, shuffling her feet uneasily. But then they seemed to get tangled up and then flew out from under her. She clenched her eyes shut as she waited to become intimately acquainted with the floor. But the arm around her waist tightened and she remained upright.

"Holy crap! That was close!" she panted in shock.

Nephrite shook with repressed laughter. "You're trying to move your feet too fast. You need to slow it down a little. Look down for a moment and watch what my feet are doing, and then try to copy them."

"If I look down I'll fall!" she protested.

"I won't let you fall," he reassured her firmly. "Trust me. Now look down and try to mimic me."

"If I do fall I swear I will sizzle your ass!" she grumbled, but looked down. She studied the movements of his skates for several long moments, taking note of how he would lift one up slightly to place it in front of the other. She also couldn't help but notice how she could see his thigh muscles under the tight denim of his jeans bunch up as he shifted his weight to the forward leg. It distracted her for a moment and she felt herself wobble again.

'_Focus, you idiot!' _she fussed at herself as Nephrite tightened his hold on her again and she heard him chuckle. Granted, the guy looked yummy enough to eat, but now was not the time to start fantasizing about him. Not if she wanted to come out of this little adventure unbroken and unbruised.

So she yanked her mind out of the gutter and returned her concentration to his feet, studying how they moved in slow, unhurried movements. He would place one foot down, and then wait a few seconds before changing to the other foot. She started counting off the rhythm in her head. _'1-2-3…1-2-3.'_

She was so wrapped up in her little litany that she didn't realize that her own feet had started to move. So she was surprised when a husky voice whispered in her ear, "There you go. Now you're getting the hang of it."

She looked at her own feet and saw that they were moving in perfect time with his like they had a mind of their own. She looked up at him, startled by this event…and promptly lost her balance.

Nephrite had gradually loosened his hold on her as she had begun moving more and more independently, so he had to act quickly as he felt her begin to fall. Luckily he had lightning fast reflexes and was able to get his arm wrapped securely around her waist again before she had the chance to slip more than a couple of inches.

"Oops!" he chuckled as he pulled her closer to him. They coasted to a stop and stood still for a minute. Lita buried her face in his arm while he grinned like an idiot. Finally, he broke the silence. "You almost had it there for a minute."

She raised her head to glare at him. "Go ahead and laugh at me. I know that's what you want to do. Finally you can claim that you've found something that you're better at than I am. It's not often that happens, so go on and yuck it up while you can."

All humor vanished from his expression. "Nobody's perfect at everything, Lita. And I would certainly never rub something like this in your face. I admit that I can be a bastard sometimes, but I'm not heartless."

Lita flushed and bit down on her bottom lip. "Sorry. I'm just being bitchy. I'm not used to feeling at a disadvantage."

He shook his head. "It's okay. We can leave. I can tell that you're not having much fun here."

Her eyes sparkled brightly. "Is the brave, strong General Nephrite actually going to run from a fight? I thought we were fighting a battle here. What about defeating my nemesis?"

He shrugged. "I was just saying that earlier to motivate you. I don't care if you know how to skate or not. I love you just the way you are. So we can get out of here and go find something else to do."

She raised a hand to poke him in the chest with a finger. "You can leave if you want to. I'm staying here. You set an objective for me to meet, and I'm going to do everything in my power to do it. I'm not giving up so easily."

Nephrite smirked in bemusement. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by you saying that. I've always said that you were the most stubborn woman I've ever met…in both lives."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not stubborn. I just don't like admitting failure. So are you going to help me with this, or am I going at it alone?"

He inclined his head to her. "I am at your command, my lady." He readjusted his hold on her and then began moving them forward once again.

Lita began counting off the beats in her head again as she tentatively moved her feet. By the time they had made it halfway around the rink, she had settled into a steady rhythm that matched his. They went around together a few times more before she began subtly moving away from him.

Nephrite loosened his hold on her, letting her decide how much space and independence she wanted. As she became more comfortable, even laughing as they continued to go around and around, he began giving her little pointers on how best to navigate the turns and how to make her glides a little bit smoother.

There were a few wobbles along the way, but she managed to stay on her feet. And eventually she moved completely away from him so that she was skating at his side, holding his hand just like a few of the other couples that were scattered around the rink. Of course she was holding onto him for balance just as much as she was for the pleasure of being with him.

Time slipped by them as they skated on. They took a few breaks here and there to get something to drink, and then returned to the rink. It always took Lita a minute to find her groove again when they went back, but it became much easier for her as the afternoon went on.

Finally, after a couple of hours, Lita announced, "Okay, I think I've had enough for today. I can feel blisters popping up on my feet even as I speak. It's time to see if I can do a victory lap and then we can blow this place."

Nephrite gripped her hand tighter for a moment. "Are you sure about this?"

She nodded firmly. "Yeah. But stay close by, just in case. If by some miracle I do make it all the way around without landing on my ass, I may still need some help to stop. I haven't quite gotten that down yet."

"Okay," he said hesitantly and let go of her hand.

She wobbled a few times, and her movements definitely weren't as fluid as they had been when she had been holding his hand, but she managed to work her way slowly around the rink.

As she passed the spot where she had begun her solo lap, a big grin split her face. "Ha! Victory is mine!"

Nephrite grinned as well as he reached for her to pull her to a stop. "Congratulations! I knew you could do it."

Neither one of them was sure what happened next. Maybe his skates tangled with hers, or hers with his. Anyway, they both stumbled and fell to the ground. Nephrite did have enough presence of mind to grab Lita and twist around so that she landed on him instead of smacking into the wood.

Air rushed out of Lita's lungs in a _whoosh _as she crashed into his chest. As she took a moment to get her breath back she wondered if she might not have had a softer landing if she had fallen on the floor instead of him.

Then she raised her head to look at him and was surprised to find him grinning down at her. "Are you okay?" she asked him hastily.

"Yeah," he drawled. "I think my manly pride might be injured just a little bit though. How about you? Are you all right?"

She slid off of him to sit next to him on the floor. "I'm fine. I feel like I crashed into a brick wall, but I'm okay. Geez! Are you wearing plate metal armor under that shirt?"

He flashed her a cocky grin as he sat up. "Nope. It's all me, one hundred percent pure muscle. Did you think all of that workout equipment at my place was just for show? I may not be training and fighting everyday like I used to, but I want to keep myself in shape."

"No problems there," she grumbled. "With a build like that you could move to America and go to play for the NFL."

"I'm glad you approve," he replied in a humorously shaking voice as he climbed back to his feet and then held out his hands to help her up.

After a couple of failed attempts to get her feet steady under her, Lita growled, "Oh! Forget it!" and quickly unlaced the skates before kicking them off. Nephrite then pulled her up and she grabbed up the skates before stomping off the rink and back to where they had left their shoes.

"I guess it was too much to ask for me to get through one trip here without falling," she said forlornly as she dropped onto the bench.

Nephrite took a seat next to her and began removing his skates. "You did extremely well though, and that fall was just as much my fault as it was yours. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"I'm not," she told him tartly. "I just wish the ice skating rink hadn't gone bankrupt and shut down. If it were still around I would take you there and show you what real skating is all about. I really hated to see it close. It was only open for about two years, but it just didn't seem to be able to draw in any business. I know every time I went there it was like a ghost town."

"It was in a bad location," he told her. "It's up for sale. Kunzite and I looked at it, but I doubt they'll ever find anyone to buy it, especially at the price they're asking for it. It's too far off the beaten path, away from other businesses and attractions that could help reel people in. Also, the company that built it went way overboard on their budget and they're trying to recoup their losses by selling at a high price. Somebody with more money than brains may eventually buy it, but I wouldn't want to deal with it. That's enough business talk, though. What do you want to do now? The day is still fairly young, and we have the whole evening ahead of us."

Lita pulled one of her aching feet up across her knee and rubbed it gingerly. "Preferably something that doesn't involve putting my feet through more torture. Those rental skates are murder!"

Nephrite snickered as he slid his own feet into his waiting loafers, ignoring the sting of blisters he felt. Thanks to the accelerated healing both he and Lita possessed, he knew their few aches and pains would be gone by the next morning.

"We could go out for dinner," he said nonchalantly. "Nothing fancy or anything. We could just grab something quick somewhere and then catch a movie or something to take a load off."

Her green eyes narrowed slightly. "You know how critical I can be when we go out to eat anywhere." Then her expression brightened. "I have a better idea. Let's swing by the grocery store and pick up a few things and I'll cook you dinner at my place. I have a lot of DVD's, or we can rent something off of pay-per-view. That sounds much more relaxing than going out."

"But that means you'll have to cook," he protested. "I thought the point was to get you off your feet."

She waved a hand at him. "That's no big deal. Once I get home where I can go barefooted I'll be fine. And I don't mind cooking at all. So what do you say?"

Nephrite's stomach growled at the thought of one of her simple, yet tasty meals. But he couldn't ignore the part of him that rumbled with another type of hunger as well. He tried his best to squash it down as he smiled at her. "That sounds great! I can't wait!"

* * *

Kunzite shook his head in amazement as he approached his blonde girlfriend, who was currently sitting at a table in the food court of a local mall, surrounded by shopping bags that held enough merchandise to open a shop of her own.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but she had bought a lot of stuff.

Artemis had warned Kunzite before he had been returned to his body that Mina could be a demon shopoholic, but the former head general had written it off as the feline guardian's protective nature of his mistress kicking in. Artemis had been clear from the beginning that he would have preferred for Kunzite to remain dead and out of Mina's life. He had progressed to the point where he could be civil to Kunzite, but he remained wary and watchful of the situation. Kunzite had no doubt that the devoted Artemis would attempt to carry out his threat to kill him if he broke Mina's heart for a second time.

So Kunzite hadn't put much stock in Artemis's words when he had elaborated on Mina's shopping habits. Sure, he had seen the number of closets that she had jammed packed with clothes, and he knew from listening to her talk to the other girls that she enjoyed shopping, but in the month that he had been in Tokyo he'd had yet to witness one of her marathon shopping sprees…until today.

After leaving Darien's apartment earlier, where the sailor scouts had assembled to rake Serena over the proverbial coals for the scare she had given them the night before, he had bundled Mina into his waiting, black Highlander and asked her what she wanted to do today.

When she casually mentioned that she would like to stop by the mall and maybe do a little shopping, he had agreed with no hesitation. He didn't see a problem with cruising the mall and browsing the shops for a couple of hours.

Now he wished he had hesitated.

He didn't know if it was because she was a sailor scout, or if was a common trait among women, but Mina had taken off like a bullet the moment they had hit the mall entrance and had barely slowed down since then. Quite a few hours, and heaven only knew how many stores later; he had to admit that he was lagging.

He had accompanied Mina on one shopping excursion before when he had been in his spirit form and it had been no big deal. She had browsed around for about an hour or so, oohed and ahhed over several things, tried on a few items, and made some purchases. He'd naïvely assumed that this trip would be similar.

Boy had he been wrong! He had been indulgent of her enthusiasm in the beginning, taking pleasure from the sight of her smiles and enjoyment in the sound of her laughter. He had dutifully followed her from shop to shop, listening to her prattle on excitedly about this and that and helping her carry the bags that seemed to multiply at an astonishing rate.

After a while his brain had begun feeling like scrambled eggs and he had retreated into an almost zombie-like mode. He'd stayed right with her, and he'd answered her whenever she spoke to him, but he had no idea what was even being said. He was operating on autopilot.

But his mind wasn't so far gone that he hadn't been able to pick up on the pattern that seemed to be repeating over and over. It took a few stores before he began to get a nagging feeling, and then he began to watch carefully. That was when he saw it.

The moment Mina walked into a new shop, it was if someone had thrown a switch. Heads of sales associates would pop up all over the store and most would call her by name. Then it was if a stampede was occurring as every worker that wasn't busy with a customer came running to assist her. They would all talk at once, insisting that there was something that they were just dying to show her, before sweeping her off to show her these must have items.

It was obvious that these people were used to Mina buying, and buying big. Kunzite swore that he could almost see dollar signs in their eyes the moment they spotted her, and it made him wonder how many of these _friendly _and _helpful _people worked on commission.

He was also secretly glad that Mina had her own money to spend. His future self had set him up with a tidy little bank account, savings, and an impressive stock portfolio, and he was hoping to expand his newfound wealth through his new business and smart investments. But he had a feeling that he would go broke pretty quick if he had to fund what Mina had laughingly called her _"retail therapy"_ earlier. It was a good thing that she was still pulling in royalties from her Sailor V ventures and that her parents gave her a hefty allowance every month. She was definitely a high maintenance kind of girl.

He wasn't really all that surprised though. Minako had been much the same way. She had been the most sought after princess in the galaxy, after Serenity anyway. In fact, all of the scouts had had no shortage of suitors clamoring for the possibility of being the one to land one of them as a wife. He and his fellow generals had often spoken about how lucky they were to have captured the hearts of the illustrious sailor scouts.

Each of the inner planets had been well known and respected for producing fine warriors, but each one also had a reputation for certain skills. Some of the best strategists and military leaders ever known had come from Jupiter. The people of Mars were held in high regard because of their spiritual powers. And the Silver Millennium never would have been as advanced as it had been if it hadn't been for the scientific and technological discoveries by the Mercurians.

But Venus had been slightly different from its sister planets. Sure, the planet had been popular because of the superior weapons that had been produced there. Mining had been a huge operation on Venus because of the precious metal located there. It was the hardest metal ever discovered, virtually indestructible, and the weapon makers that lived there had been true artists of their trade as they forged weapons from that metal that were both beautiful and lethal.

In fact, his own sword, along with Endymion's and his fellow generals, were Venusian. Endymion's father, the king, had presented them to them when they had been in their early teens and it had been decided that they had progressed enough with their training to receive a true warrior's weapon of their own. He had carried his proudly. And when he had been named head general, it had been that sword that led armies into battle. Sure, he had his powers to draw on to help him out in a fight, but there was nothing like a good old-fashioned sword fight from time to time.

But although Venus had been known for its deadly creations, its culture had been vastly different. The people of Venus had embraced the beauty of everything that surrounded them and love had been the predominate emotion there. Of course, some of them had taken love theme a little to far in his opinion.

There had been an inordinate amount of promiscuity in the Venusian court, as he had witnessed during his visits there. It hadn't been uncommon to come across couples in the physical act of showing their feelings in the shadowy corners of the palace. And some people didn't even bother trying to find a semi-private place in order to carry out their affairs and acted right out in the open where anyone could see them.

He had joked with Minako once that he always felt like he had walked into a giant orgy whenever he had the opportunity to visit her in her birth home. She had blushed and stammered that not all Venusians were that bold. Her parents, for example, never acted in such a lewd way around other people and that they were completely devoted to one another and would never seek another person's bed.

He had still found it surprising that Minako had been as innocently shy as she had been when he met her. But he figured that if he took into account that her father had been Lunarian and that she had spent more time on the moon as a child than on Venus it was understandable. The Venusian king had been Queen Serenity's older brother, and since Lunarian law decreed that only females could inherit the throne of the moon, he had been free to pursue his own life.

But when Minako had been chosen as the sailor scout of Venus at the time of her birth, he and his wife had graciously agreed that it was best for her to live at least part of the time on the moon in order to be trained in her duties. Minako had loved living on the moon with her aunt, cousin, and until he died, her uncle. She had claimed that the moon felt more like home to her than Venus did and that since the other inner scouts were there more than on their own home planets it was like having a lot of sisters.

But despite her half Lunarian heritage and the lack of time she spent on her home world, the Venusian blood had run hot and thick in her veins. She'd adored beautiful things and had a weakness for clothes. Even now, he could still remember lying back on the bed in her orange and gold silk draped chambers at the moon palace, watching her paw through the closet that was big enough to house a large family as she debated on what to wear. Sometimes it would take her hours just to decide what to wear for dinner. And that was when there were no special guests invited! It was a hundred times worse whenever there was something important such as a state dinner or a ball to attend, or so the other girls had told him.

Their relationship had, for the most part, had been kept secret, as had those of the other scouts and generals. The Earth hadn't been very popular with the other planets of the solar system since they had refused to join the Silver Alliance, and tempers would be sure to flare if it were found out that one of its crown princesses was consorting with a general of the Terran army. Even Endymion and Serenity were forced to keep their engagement under wraps, and at times it seemed that they would never be able to wed. The political tensions just ran too high.

Queen Serenity had known all of their dirty little secrets, however. And, though she couldn't publicly announce it, she had supported their relationships. She'd shared a close friendship with the king and queen of Earth, despite the fact that the Earth had not joined the alliance, and together the monarchs had come up with ways for the couples to spend time together under the guise of diplomatic purposes.

But these sporadic meetings weren't nearly enough for the couples, so a large amount of sneaking around was involved as well. Endymion and Serenity had been doing so for a while, so they took a page out of their book and did the same. He'd lost count of how many nights he'd snuck onto the moon or had gone into his chambers in the earth palace after a long and trying day to find Minako waiting for him.

Being the head general of the Terran army had also given him the advantage of being able to visit Venus since a great deal of his army's weapons came from there and he usually personally oversaw any large or special orders. Minako's mother, being a descendant of Aphrodite, had sensed it immediately when her daughter had found her soul mate and had given them her blessing. She helped out a lot by coming up with some reason to summon Minako home whenever he was scheduled to visit. She'd kept a tight leash on her grumbling husband and turned a blind eye to the fact that she knew Kunzite spent more of the night in Minako's chambers than he did in his own.

A hand waving in front of his face snapped him out of his reverie, and he looked down to see that he had reached the table that Mina was sitting at and that she was looking at him with a questioning smile.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

She giggled softly. "Nothing. I was just wondering when you were going to return to Earth. You've been standing there, staring off into space for the last couple of minutes. I was starting to get a little worried."

"I was just…thinking about some things," he said hesitantly.

"Like what?" she asked as she held out her hand for the smoothie she had sent him after.

He handed her the drink and then sat down in the chair across from her. He took a sip of his own iced latte before he answered. "Just stuff. After watching you shop today I was wondering where you're going to put all of it. I've seen your closets at home, and they're already filled to the limit. Then that got me to thinking about the past and I remembered that monstrous closet you had on the moon. A person could have very easily gotten lost in there. It was like its own city."

She sighed dreamily. "I've been wishing that I still had that closet ever since I remembered it. It would be so wonderful." Then she shook herself. "As for where I put things, it's not as hard as you think. I'm not a packrat. I go through things every so often and thin stuff out. I usually call the girls over and let them go through and take whatever they want, and they usually walk away with a completely new wardrobe. It makes me feel good to give them things. They are so proud that they would never accept gifts flat out. So I buy things I think they will like and then let them hang in the closet for a while. Then later I pull them out and tell them that if they don't take them I'll just give it away to charity. They don't have a problem with it when I put it like that."

Kunzite took a minute to appraise her. "So when you shop, you're not just shopping for yourself? You're shopping for the other girls too?"

She swirled her straw through her drink. "I know it sounds silly, but it makes me happy. Sometimes I wonder if they're on to me and just too polite to say anything. Take this for example…" She rummaged through a nearby bag and pulled out a pale pink, delicately knit silk sweater. "I would never wear this. I didn't even buy it in my size. But I know Serena will love it. So I'll just hang it up, and when we get closer to fall I'll pull it out with a bunch of other things and insist that she take it. Mission accomplished."

"I don't think it's silly," he said with a shake of his head. "I think your generosity just shows what a pure hearted person you are. You love your friends a lot, and this is just one of the ways that you display that love to them."

"I suppose," she murmured as she folded the sweater and carefully placed it back in the bag. "I don't know exactly why I do it. None of them are slouches, and they are perfectly capable of buying their own clothes. But like I said, it just makes me feel good to do it. I've tried to psychoanalyze myself. Maybe it's because I've always felt a little different from them."

Kunzite sat back in his chair and folded his arms. "Different how?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. We all have different stories and have all been through hardships. Serena probably had the most normal upbringing with her parents and her brother. Raye lost her mom, and her dad is a bastard, but she's always had grandpa to depend on. Amy's parents divorced, and they're busy with their careers, but they are both a big part of her life. Lita…well she probably had it the worst with her parents dying and being passed around foster homes the way she was. But she never let it get her down and she bounced back and built a life for herself."

His steel gray eyes narrowed. "Do you feel abandoned by your parents? Is that where this is coming from? I know it's probably been rough on you to live on your own…"

"No, no!" she cut him off. "I don't resent my parents at all. They're great people and I love them dearly. I was the one that chose this life. We were all happy together living in London. But when I finished filming my movies and dad's diplomatic duties were transferred from England to France, I convinced them that I wanted to move back here and try going to school like a normal teenager. Mom offered to stay with me, but she and dad are so centered around each other that I knew they would be miserable apart. Besides, I knew that I would be walking into a nightmare here. I had been running cover as Sailor V for while in London, trying to keep Beryl off of Serena and the other's trail. But that had blown up in my face, literally, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she tracked them down. When I started hearing stories about the sailor scouts fighting here, I knew it was time to move. So I packed up Artemis and came home."

"So how does that make you so different from the other girls?" he queried. "From what I've heard you've all gone through ups and downs."

"True," she agreed reluctantly. "And maybe my feeling like this is just all in my head, but sometimes I think I do what I do for them to make up for not being here when they needed me."

A pale brow arched at her. "You'll have to run that one by me, because I'm not following you. I've never heard any of the girls say anything about you that could be construed as them feeling any disappointment with you. Sure, Raye and Lita pick on you, but I can tell that it's all in good fun. Serena positively adores you, as does Amy, and anyone could tell by looking at all of you that you are a vital part of your group."

"I like to think so," she replied softly. "The five of us have definitely faced some heavy challenges together over the years. But I can't help but feel guilty sometimes for not being here from the beginning so that I could help. By the time I got everything situated with my parents and moved back here Serena had already become Sailor Moon and had been fighting against the Dark Kingdom for quite a while. She had Darien, of course, and Amy, Raye, and Lita had already awakened their scout powers too. But I've always felt like I showed up at the last moment. They had already defeated the brainwashed Jadeite and Nephrite. And Darien was barely a blip on my radar, especially since he was captured by Beryl only one day after I made myself known. I may have been able to help more if I had been here."

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. "Darling, I'm sure everything happened exactly when and where it was supposed to. If it hadn't I'm positive that Pluto would have flipped her lid by now."

His words brought a smile to her face. "You're right about that. I asked her once if I did things the right way, and she told me that the events of the timeline were unfolding exactly the way they were meant to. She didn't exactly answer my question, but Trista is well known for speaking in riddles. I'm glad to know that the future is unfolding the way it should, because we've definitely had some intense moments where we wondered if we were going to live past the next minute, much less make it to the future we caught a glimpse of when we went to Crystal Tokyo. But I still can't help but think that we would still make it to that future even if a few small things were changed in the past. If I had come back here sooner I could have helped Serena so much more. Maybe we could have found the Silver Crystal sooner. And perhaps Darien wouldn't have been kidnapped and brainwashed and we wouldn't have had to go through what we did in the Arctic Circle. There may have been an easier way to take care of the whole mess."

He squeezed her fingers. "I know it's easy to think that way, sweetheart, but you're looking at it from an emotional point of view instead of a logical perspective." He held up his other hand to cut off the protest he felt coming when her mouth popped open. "Just hear me out on this. Be honest with yourself. The guilt you feel stems from the fact that your friends had to experience pain and heartbreak. And that is what you wish you could have spared them. It doesn't have anything to do with the fighting. Am I right?"

She nodded. "Yes, but…"

"I'm not finished yet," he scolded her gently. "The romantic in you weeps for your friends, but bad experiences are just as much a part of life as the good ones. They are what build us into the people we become. For just a minute, look at this from Sailor Venus's point of view, as the leader of the sailor scouts. Sure, fighting without you for a while probably made things more difficult on them than it would have been if you had been here, but I don't see that as a bad thing. The challenge of discovering their powers and being forced to use them in the situations they did probably whipped them into shape better and faster than any training routine you could have put them through. And every fight, every enemy that you have faced since then has helped you all grow and expand your abilities. The pain, the loss, and the bloodshed may have seemed pointless at the time, but I believe that they serve a purpose. Could Serena have defeated Beryl and Metallia if she hadn't suffered through the loss of Darien and you girls? Perhaps. But I sincerely think that those experiences are what fueled her determination to win."

Mina huffed a laugh softly under her breath. "Okay general, when you put it that way I can see your point. We have definitely benefited from the challenges that we have faced over the years. But that doesn't mean that I have to like the bad things when they happen."

He chuckled at the sight of her wrinkled up nose. "No, you don't. But at least you know that you can possibly gain something from life's unpleasant experiences. And don't beat yourself up over not being here in the beginning. It's not like you were hiding away, trying to avoid the fight. You were busy waging a battle of your own."

"Yeah," she muttered and stared down pensively into her drink. She held back a shudder as she was assaulted by memories that she had tried so hard to keep locked away for years; a dark night, her heart pounding in fear, a flash of movement, a playing card appearing from out of nowhere, pain, anger, betrayal, and a touch of heartache. All of these things flew through her mind at rapid speed.

And she heard that voice, his voice, cursing her with his dying breath, telling her that she would wander through life searching for love and never find it.

For a long time she'd thought those words would come true. She had believed that Kunzite was lost to her forever, so she knew that she had no chance of being with her soul mate, but she had hoped that she would be able to find a comfortable and companionable love with someone else. She had dated quite extensively for a while in hopes of finding someone that she could be compatible with. But she had finally given up when all of her dates ended up with the guys either boring her to the point of tears or just trying to get in her pants.

In fact, she hadn't been on a date for over six months until Kunzite had come crashing back into her life. She'd had several guys ask her out, but she had turned them all down, figuring that it would be a waste of time. The only person that she had even half-heartedly made a play for in all that time had been Yaten. And she had fervently thanked Aphrodite that nothing had panned out there when she had discovered that he had actually been a she. She knew some women, like Amara and Michelle for example, liked to play on the same side of the fence, and she didn't have a problem with it. What they did in their personal life was their business. But she definitely preferred men when it came to anything dealing with romantic entanglements.

And now that she had Kunzite back, she knew that she would fight to the death to keep him with her. Her true soul mate had returned to her and they were happy together; and this made her hope that the curse had been lifted.

"Hey!" Kunzite said gently, shaking her hand slightly to get her attention. "Are you okay?"

She blinked up at him. "Yeah! Sure! I'm fine."

He looked skeptical. "Are you sure? You looked like you were a million miles away there for a minute."

She forced out a giggle. "You know how I am. I space out all the time."

"Mina…" he began in a warning tone. "You can't hide things from me. I know something is bothering you."

She waved a hand at him. "Don't be so melodramatic! I was just thinking about something. It's no big deal. Hmm…I think I'll duck into _Victoria's Secret _before we leave. Maybe I'll be able to find something fun in there." She flashed him a blinding smile.

But Kunzite wasn't fooled for a moment. Most people would probably believe her radiant, happy expression. But he knew her better than any other person and he could see straight through it. He could see the slight tremble of her lips and the brittleness of that smile. He also noticed that the light in her eyes was much dimmer than usual.

The surge of protectiveness that he had always felt for Minako and now felt for her reincarnation swelled up inside of him. If something was troubling his beloved he wanted to know what it was. He was about to demand that she be honest about what was on her mind, but before he could he was interrupted.

"Um…excuse me, Miss Aino?" a softly hesitant voice spoke up from beside their table.

"Yes?" Mina replied automatically as she looked up, grateful for the interruption. She knew that she hadn't fooled Kunzite and that he had been about to interrogate her. Hopefully this little break would give her the chance to pull herself together. She knew that he wouldn't forget about it, but she hoped to be able to convince him to not press the issue. The subject was definitely something that she didn't want to talk about.

The girl standing next to her looked to be around fourteen years old with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a white _Hello Kitty _baby doll t-shirt with a pair of black capris and flip-flops. Her eyes were the color of coffee and were large with awe in her round face.

"Omigosh!" the girl squeaked. "It really is you! I knew it was the moment I saw you. I absolutely adored you in the Sailor V movies. I've seen them all like a million times."

Mina couldn't help but grin. "Thanks! I didn't think Sailor V still had any fans anymore since so many other great movies have come out in the last few years."

The girl shook her head. "Are you kidding? Sure, there have been some killer movies, but Sailor V is like classic. Some friends of mine and I were talking just the other day about how we wished that you would do another one. We know that you retired and all, but that would so cool. And then we got to talking about how awesome it would be if they made a movie about the sailor scouts. We all think that you would be the best Sailor Venus."

Mina started a bit at her words and kicked Kunzite, who was snorting into his latte as he tried to hide his laughter. She felt the tiniest bit gratified when he flinched and bent down to rub his shin. That would teach him to laugh at her when she was having an awkward moment!

Then she turned back to her bubbly little fan. "I'm honored that you and your friends think so highly of me, but I'm afraid that at the moment I have no plans to return to the business. Right now I'm just a teenage girl trying to make it through high school."

The girl shrugged. "That's cool, I guess. I start high school in the fall, and I'm not looking forward to it. The entrance exams were murder! I guess I'll get going now. I don't want to bore you to death. My mom always says that I could talk a deaf person's ears off. But I was wondering…" her voice trailed off uncertainly.

"What is it?" Mina asked, intrigued.

The girl shifted from foot to foot uneasily for a few moments before she blurted out, "Can I have your autograph?"

Mina was floored for a moment. It had been a long time since someone had asked for her autograph. "Oh! Yeah! Sure! Let me see if I have a pen in my purse."

"I've got one!" the girl exclaimed, whipping off her small backpack purse and reaching inside. She pulled out both a glittery purple gel pen and an autograph book. She flipped through the pages of the book, saying, "This is great! I've been waiting for years for this chance. I knew that you were living here now, and I hoped that I would run into you some day. I've been saving a special page for you for years now. Ah! Here it is!" She set the book and pen on the table in front of Mina.

Mina smiled indulgently and picked up the pen. "So who should I make this out to?"

The girl blushed. "Oh! I guess I was rude by not introducing myself. My name is Nicole."

"Okay Nicole!" Mina chirped as she lowered the pen to the paper. But then she glanced at the page next to the one she was about to sign and her hand faltered. There, in a handwriting that she remembered well from days gone by, was the familiar signature of one _Ace Kaitou_. Her blood ran cold at the thought of this vibrant, energetic girl being anywhere close to that monster.

She pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on jotting down what she hoped was an inspiring message. She wrote, _Nicole – A true sailor scout's strength is born in the heart. Stay true to yours and you will go far in life. Stand strong and never back down from what you believe in. – Mina Aino aka Sailor V_

"There you go," she announced as she handed the book and pen back to her.

Nicole's eyes shimmered with pleasure as she looked over the newest addition to her autograph book. "Wow! Thanks, Mina! None of my friends are going to believe this! They'll probably think I'm making the whole thing up and faked the autograph. But I don't care. I know it's real."

"Hmm…" Mina mused for a moment, wondering there was anything that she could do to give this girl credibility with her friends.

Of course, leave it to Kunzite to come up with a simple, effective plan. "Do you have a cell phone?" he asked Nicole.

Nicole smacked herself on the forehead. "Duh! My camera phone! I can't believe I didn't think about that. No wonder people always tell me that I should be a blonde." Then she froze, looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car as she realized what she had just said in front of one of her favorite, _very blonde_ idols and that the extremely large man across from Mina had hair that was even several shades lighter than hers.

Mina giggled and waved a hand airily. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to the blonde cracks. Now, how about that phone?"

"Oh, right!" Nicole mumbled as she fished a black cell phone from her pocket. She pressed a few buttons and then pointed it at Mina. "Say cheese!"

Mina smiled broadly and held up the V sign that was actually Sailor Venus's trademark, but that Sailor V was famous for. She held still and let Nicole take a couple of shots.

Then Kunzite did the unexpected. He stood up and held out his hand to Nicole. "Here, let me take one of you two together. That way you have definite proof that you met Mina."

"Cool!" Nicole squealed and handed over the phone. She plunked down in the seat next to Mina, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Kunzite chuckled as he snapped a picture of the two smiling faces.

Then Nicole was on her feet, taking her phone back and putting it in her pocket once more before she shoved her autograph book and pen back into her bag. Then she slung the bag over her shoulder. "I better run now. My mom always says that I have a bad habit of wearing out my welcome. And besides," she glanced around at all the shopping bags, "you look like you've been really busy."

"Bye, Nicole!" Mina called and waved as the girl walked away.

Kunzite sat back down in his chair with a severely amused look on his face. "It looks like you still have some fans out there."

"Oh, hush you!" she grumbled. Then she brightened. "I know you're way beyond ready to get out of here. I promise, one quick last stop and then we can leave, okay." Her little encounter with Nicole had lifted her spirits and made her feel like herself again, and she hoped it was enough to deter Kunzite from asking about her earlier melancholy.

Luck was with her. Kunzite was still concerned about what had brought her down so low before, but he was so glad that she seemed to be back to her usual bubbly self that he decided to let the matter rest for now.

He gave her a wry grin. "Okay, one last store, and then we'll leave. I need to escape before my masculinity shrivels up and disappears."

A laugh pealed from her. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, general. You possess enough macho-ness for ten men. But we'll get you out of here before your manly pride is dealt too heavy of a blow."

She stood up and shouldered her purse before starting to gather up some of her shopping bags. She paused as she heard a voice say, "Hey, Mina!" and looked up to see that Nicole had returned.

The girl had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "I forgot to tell you something before I left." She ran an appreciative glance over Kunzite. "Good job landing a hunk like that. He's a hundred times better than Ace Kaitou. Everybody used to be so gaga over Ace, but I always thought he was a jerk. When I asked him for his autograph back a few years ago I thought he was going to take my head off. I'm just glad that you didn't end up with him. I always knew you could do better. Okay! I'm really leaving this time. Bye!"

Mina thought that she muttered a goodbye, but she wasn't entirely sure. All of the dark thoughts and emotions that she had just managed to push away a few minutes ago now rushed back into her. Her smoothie churned sickeningly in her stomach.

"Mina, what's wrong?" Kunzite asked in worried tone. He was around the table in a second as he saw all the blood drain from her face, leaving it stark white. He took a gentle hold of her arm and was shocked to feel her trembling like a leaf in a strong wind.

Then she looked up at him with a shuttered expression. "We can leave now. I just want to go home."

He felt an urge to shake her and demand some answers, but from the looks of her he could tell that whatever was weighing on her mind was serious. Something about what that girl had said had disturbed her deeply. He figured that it was best to get her out of the crowded mall before he got her to talk.

"Let's go," he agreed and gathered up the remaining bags in one hand, keeping the other on her arm for support. She walked robotically at his side toward the exit, and in just a few minutes they were sitting in the privacy of his SUV.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a few silent minutes had passed. "You probably think I'm a mental case."

He shook his head. "No, I don't. But I am concerned. What did that girl say to upset you so badly?"

Mina leaned her head back against the seat and sighed shakily. "I know you say that your memories of your time with Beryl are very vague, but do you remember anything about your time with her before you started attacking Tokyo?"

His brow furrowed as he tried to comb through the fuzzy thoughts and images, but it was like trying to swim through wet cotton. "I remember a little bit. But what does that have to do with you."

She turned and looked out the passenger side window. "Do you remember an underling of yours named Danburite?"

A shadow of comprehension clicked in his brain. "You mean Adonis? I had forgotten about him. That's right! Beryl had him too, and he was working for her. He served under me during the Silver Millennium and hoped to make general one day. I don't really remember much after Beryl got her clutches into us, but I think she had him working on something."

"Oh, he was working on something all right," Mina muttered bitterly. "She sent him to London with a team. They are who I was fighting against while I was there."

Kunzite's fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he had a flash of memory.

_*****FLASHBACK*****_

Kunzite sneered down at the man knelt before him. "So, Danburite, what excuses do you have this time for not being able to bring in that sailor scout?"

"I apologize, Lord Kunzite," Danburite replied in a tone that bordered on almost being disrespectful. "Sailor V has proven herself to be more _resourceful _than we gave her credit for. I am trying to devise the best solution for getting her right where I want her."

"I'm not interested in hearing your inane ramblings about your continued defeats," Kunzite bellowed. "I'm sure you know that Queen Beryl highly suspects that this girl could be the moon princess."

"With all due respect, my lord," Danburite drawled. "I really do not believe that Sailor V is the princess we are searching for."

Kunzite arched a brow. "Do you have some suspicions that you would like to share with me? Who do you think she is?"

Danburite bowed his head quickly. "I'm sure I don't know, sir. It's just a gut feeling that I have that she is not Princess Serenity."

Kunzite snorted. "Well, your gut feeling aside, her majesty still wants her. Even if she proves to not be the princess, she could be one of the imperial scouts. And that still makes her our enemy. It is your job to bring her in. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir, my lord," Danburite grated out through clenched teeth.

_And that memory triggered another one._

"I'm so glad that you were able to come for a visit," Minako said softly as they strolled down one of the garden paths of the Venusian palace.

He chuckled. "I told you that I was scheduling my trip here to coincide with yours."

She nodded. "I know, but sometimes things happen that are out of our control. I know Beryl and her clan are still stirring up trouble on Earth. If there had been an unexpected attack you wouldn't have been able to come."

"Well it appears that Aphrodite decided to smile on us," he replied and took her hand.

She stiffened and pulled her hand away, murmuring, "We are not as alone as you think."

Cursing under his breath, he looked up, searching for the presence that he should have sensed. Minako had distracted him, making him drop his guard. He spotted a young man standing behind a bush and demanded, "Is there something that you needed me for, Adonis?"

Adonis stepped out from behind the bush. "No sir. I was just admiring the beauty in the gardens." He approached them and bowed, holding out the orange flower he held in his hand to Minako. "For you, princess."

"Thank you," Minako said shortly as she accepted the flower. She gave him a forced smile and suppressed a shudder as their fingers brushed. She held herself stiff until he had walked away.

The always-observant Kunzite had noticed her reaction and leaned down to whisper, "Has he done something to make you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head. "Not exactly. I know he's been posted here to act as your liaison for the weapons that your army needs, but ever since I came home to celebrate the holiday season I feel like he's always around. Every time I turn around, there he is. And he watches me a lot. It makes me self conscious."

Rage bubbled up in Kunzite. He knew how to read between the lines and knew that Adonis was lusting after Minako.

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

"He knew who you were," Kunzite growled as he turned in his seat to face Mina.

She nodded wearily. "He did."

He bit back another snarl as he forced himself to calm down. Danburite, Adonis, or whatever you wanted to call him was dead and gone. He focused instead on trying to figure out why Mina was suddenly upset over something that happened years ago and what had caused it to weigh so heavily on her mind out of the blue.

"Mina," he began gently. "Why are you dwelling on him all of a sudden? You seemed a little upset before, and then you seemed to perk up again while talking to that girl. But when she came back the second time she said something, I'm not sure what, that caused you to almost fall apart. Now I want to know what's going on inside that head of yours."

She leaned her head back again and closed her eyes. "I didn't know it was him. I couldn't really remember Adonis from the Silver Millennium, and he used it to his advantage. When I look back now I'm disgusted with myself that I didn't see the truth sooner. Things would have turned out so differently if I had known."

"Known what?" he asked, biting back his impatience. He knew that she would clam up and he wouldn't get any answers out of her if he pushed her too hard.

His perseverance paid off a minute later when she opened her eyes to look at him soulfully. "He needed to get close to me, so he invented a new identity for himself. Since I was in the movie business and used to being surrounded by people, and the fact that I didn't recognize him from the past, he found it easy to come in as an up and coming actor. He was an instant sensation, especially with the ladies. I'm ashamed to say that even I wasn't immune to his charm."

Kunzite may not possess Zoicite's computer fast way of thinking, but he was far from being slow. It all clicked into place in just a matter of seconds. Now he knew why Nicole's words had elicited such a strong reaction from Mina. He had done some research on the internet because he had been curious about her life as a movie star, and one name had appeared along with hers over and over on the tabloid sites. He'd found it distasteful at the time that anyone would speculate about the romantic life of a thirteen-year-old girl. But this realization was even more disturbing.

"Ace Kaitou," he hissed in a venomous tone. "What did he do to you?"

She let out a shaky half laugh. "Nothing that I didn't bring on myself. Artemis always told me to be on my guard, but I fell into his deception without a second thought. I thought he was my friend, my ally. And when I discovered the truth about him I fought back. I felt hurt and betrayed by someone that I thought I could trust."

Kunzite couldn't help but wince at her words. She could have been talking about their relationship as well. He had been turned against her, broken the trust she had in him, and thrown her love for him back into he face. Then he had committed the ultimate betrayal by taking her life. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought.

"Would you stop thinking about that!" Mina almost shrieked in a tone that was very close to a sob. "What happened between us was completely different and was something that was out of our hands."

Realizing that she was sensing his guilt through the bond they shared, he quickly tamped down those negative emotions. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was. But at the same time, he needed some answers so he could help her feel better.

He leaned across the vehicle so that he could take her icy hands in his. "I understand that it was a trying time for you, but he's gone. Why are you letting what he did upset you now?"

The tears that had been shining in her blue eyes spilled over as she threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck in what was almost a stranglehold. Her breath rushed hotly past his ear as she cried, "Because he cursed me! Just before he died he told me that I would never be able to find love in this life. And now I have you back, and I'm happy. But what if it doesn't last? He possessed a certain amount of spiritual power, so I take that curse very seriously. I'm afraid that something will tear us apart again!"

Kunzite pulled away from her just enough to look down into her wet, red-rimmed eyes. Her nose was a brilliant shade of scarlet and her makeup was beginning to smear, but he thought that he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.

He cupped her face between his palms. "Mina, love, curse or no curse, I'm here and you're stuck with me. I don't give a damn about what some lowlife foot soldier had to say about it. Even if Beryl were to appear here right now, I'd tell her to go straight back to hell and roast. Because I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to go away."

"Never!" Mina declared fiercely. "Never ever! I don't think I could survive losing you again."

"You'll never have to," he promised her, pressing a light kiss to her lips. "Now can we please leave? No offense, but I would like to put some distance between myself and the mall."

She turned her head to look mournfully at the nearby building. Then she sighed. "I was going to find something pretty to wear for you when we're alone."

He chuckled as he let go of her to situate himself back behind the wheel. "I appreciate the thought, but it would be a bit of a waste. You should know by now that I like it best when you wear nothing at all."

The blush he adored on her rushed to her cheeks, making him laugh just a little bit harder as he keyed the ignition and pulled out of the lot.

"So where am I headed?" he asked as he turned onto the street. "I suppose you want to go to your house and drop off your stuff."

"Actually, you can head back to your place if you want to," she replied hesitantly. "I'll just leave my things in the car for now."

He shrugged. "If that's what you want. We can go do something else if you like."

She saw him glance at her out of the corner of his eyes and gave him an impish grin. "I'll leave that decision up to you, general. I was just thinking…"

"Thinking what?" he asked as he pulled to a stop at a traffic light and looked at her.

Her expression turned positively feline. And when she spoke, her voice was a purr. "I was just thinking that your place has a bigger bed than mine."

Kunzite normally obeyed all traffic laws, but broke the speed limit in his hurry to get back to the penthouse.

* * *

**A/N **So there you have it. Like I said before, I'm taking some time to reflect on the other couples besides just Serena and Darien. There will some Rini/Helios time coming up soon as well; at least that's the plan. Well, I'm off to hit the car lots and do some looking. The schools only had a half-day today, so I got out of work early, and it worked out perfectly. I'd finished editing this last night and wanted to get it posted as soon as possible. So I'm off, my lovelies! Please drop me those reviews and let me know what you thought. Things are beginning to heat up with all of the couples now, and I'm anxious for feedback on them. I like to make the characters my own, but I don't want them to seem too out of character, so your thoughts are very important to me. Later gators! Lots of love and hugs! Be safe!

~Sere~


	19. Love, Lust, Lechery, and Longing Part 2

**A/N **Naughty me! It's been so long since I updated this story that I should really be ashamed of myself! The only excuse I can give is that I got so off track during the holidays that it's taken me some time to try to get my rhythm back. I also know that some of you may be looking at this and thinking that this is a small update for me, but I decided to split this chapter into two when it reached 50 pages because it was just getting so ridiculously long. I'm also trying to iron out some kinks in a few of the scenes in the second part. So I decided to go ahead and give you guys the first 26 pages of it. Expect the next part quickly, either later today or early tomorrow. I'm off work today because I had _another _doctor's appointment (Geez! How many times do I have to go back? So I hit my head pretty hard and banged my arm up quite a bit in that accident. That was months ago and I'm fine now. If I was going to develop any other brain issues besides the ones I already suffer from for being blonde, I think it would have happened by now.) Anyway, I have some free time today to work on getting the next part whipped into shape.

Just another quick note. To those of you that are on Facebook, I have created a page there that is strictly for my writing. I didn't want to mix up my personal page that I use to keep up with my family with my fanfiction friends, so on the advice of a friend of mine I decided to make a separate page just for my fellow writers and readers. My inbox is always full of messages from you guys, and it's hard for me to find time to sit down and reply to each one. So I thought it would be a good idea to have a place where I can leave comments and updates on what's going on with the stories and be able to reach a lot of people at once. It just seems to be a much easier way of communicating than the messaging system on ff . net. So check me out there if you want. My page is under Serenity Shields, or you can find it by putting in my email Serenitythestoryteller(at)yahoo . com (Minus the spaces of course. This info is also on my profile page.). I hope to see some of you there. I'm really excited about it.

Now that all the rambling is out of the way, let me move on to my hugs. BIG HUGS TO:

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**sabina21**

**katie**

**SailorCopperOwl**

**XxNekoHentaixX**

**TheMoonPrincess110**

**Ariel Night**

**Seredhiel05**

**idfcv**

**Angelstar14**

**nickybluejess**

**saveme57**

**unlockurdestiny**

**KageNoNeko**

**rainbabie**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**LadyRosalie29**

**JuliaGulia17**

**Isis2010**

**GoldenDragon326**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**jade2nightwing**

**darkprincesssalvatore**

**Maira**

**haruka-chan66**

**Princess Silver Serenity**

**Dragoon-Yue**

As always, you guys rock! Now I'm sure you're tired of hearing me yap, so I'm shutting up now.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 18

Love, Lust, Lechery, and Longing Part 2

* * *

Rini grinned as she opened her eyes and found herself lying on a patch of emerald grass beside the lake in Elysian. The last thing she remembered was dozing off in her bed at Darien's apartment after Serena had brought her some medicine and a heat pad for her cramps. She hadn't consciously willed herself to come into Elysian when she fell asleep, and she had spent some time in regular dreams for a while, but she was glad that she had ended up there in the end. And one of the best things was the fact that she no longer felt any pain or discomfort now that she was asleep.

She sat up and looked around curiously. The different flow of time in Elysian always took her by surprise and she was never quite sure if it would be day or night when she arrived there. It had been around lunchtime when she had fallen asleep in the outside world, but it looked as if the day was drawing to an end in the land of dreams. The sun was creeping down toward the horizon, sending red, orange, and gold rays shooting across the land and causing shadows to lengthen across the ground. The golden palace of Elysian gleamed brightly off in the distance in the dying light.

A swooshing sound above her had her head snapping upward. She looked up into the purpling sky and smiled when she saw the brilliant white Pegasus descending toward her.

"Hi, Helios!" she cried, jumping to her feet and running toward him as he landed a short distance away. She always found it to be less awkward to be around him when he was in his guardian spirit form, so she didn't think twice about it as she barreled into him and threw her arms around his neck to hug him tightly.

Helios was not capable of speech while in his Pegasus form, but as always he had no trouble projecting his thoughts to her. It was an ability that they had shared from the moment they had met when he had been pulled to her because of the light of her beautiful dream.

"Well, hello, my maiden," his humorous tone resounded in her head. "I wasn't expecting to see you for a while. It is only afternoon in the outside world, is it not?"

She nodded as she buried her face in his silky white mane and murmured, "It is. But I wasn't feeling good, so I decided to take a nap."

He jerked in her embrace. "You are unwell?"

"No!" she denied immediately. She definitely wasn't about to share the details about her private, personal issues with him. Her face began to burn hotly. "I'm not sick or anything. I'm just a little…" she thought quickly of what word her mother would use in this situation, "…indisposed at the moment. It's no big deal."

"Are you sure?" he demanded, twisting his neck around in an attempt to see her face.

"I'm positive," she responded immediately. "Now can we please drop the subject?" God! She would absolutely die of embarrassment if he pushed the issue and she was forced to admit exactly what her _indisposition _was. She would never be able to show her face in front of him again.

Thankfully, he was able to take a hint and changed the subject. "It seems that Elysian has become a popular place for visitors today?"

"Huh?" she murmured as she stepped back to look at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

His chuckle echoed through her mind. "Nothing much. I was just talking about the fact that Endymion and Serenity decided to come here so that they could have a private conversation earlier. I just returned them to the outside world a short time ago."

"Why would you have to…" she been in confusion, and then stopped once comprehension clicked. "Oh yeah! I guess Darien hasn't mastered traveling here on his own yet."

"And it doesn't appear that he will learn it for a while," Helios snorted. "My prince has decided that it will be in his best interest to continue his studies abroad, so I'm sure that his education will take precedence over him learning more about his abilities and his powers."

Rini nudged him playfully. "I don't know why you seem so surprised. You may not be as all-seeing and all-knowing as Puu, but you know very well that my dad spent some time at Harvard while he was in medical school. He doesn't have those certificates from there hanging next to his medical degree in his office for nothing after all. He was a doctor before he ever became a king."

"I know," he told her gently. "I suppose I'm just falling into the same rut that most people who know too much about what is supposed to happen fall into. I know that I can't interfere with the proper flow of time, but a small part of me wishes that I could. It could make things easier down the road."

"I know what you mean," she sighed heavily. Sometimes having knowledge about the future when you were in the past was a heavy burden to bear. Heaven knew that she had found it difficult on many occasions to keep the things that she knew to herself. Serena, Darien, and the others had a very basic outline about where their lives would lead, but none of them knew about all of the bumps and turns in the road they would face on the way there. That was something that they would have to find out on their own. She would just have to keep biting her tongue.

Helios tossed his head, shaking off the seriousness of the moment. "So, my maiden, could I interest you in a ride?"

She started at his offer. "A ride?"

He knelt down to give her easy access to his back. "Sure. Unless you aren't feeling up to it."

"No! A ride sounds great!" she quickly agreed as she scrambled onto his back. It seemed like forever since the last time she had soared through the sky with him. And in reality, it had been a while; sometime back before she had started avoiding him because of her feelings for him, since she had allowed herself to get so close to him.

"Hold on tight," he told her as he rose back to his feet.

She wound her fingers into his mane and tucked her knees in close against his sides, just behind his wings, as he took a few running steps forward. Then his feathery white wings shot out wide and they were airborne. She shrieked in delight as they soared through the sky.

Helios circled the palace once, and then headed west, toward the setting sun. After a minute, he glided to a stop, hovering in place. The only sound was the swish of his wings as they rose and fell a few inches with every beat.

Rini held her breath, not wanting to ruin this perfectly peaceful moment by talking.

Eventually, Helios broke the silence, his voice low and reverent. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she barely whispered as she watched what was left of the sun setting fast beyond the horizon.

A companionable quiet fell between them once more, and they observed the spectacle for a few more minutes until the last bit of the red-orange ball of light had sank out of sight.

Then, Helios chuckled. "I guess that's the end of the show for today. I suppose we should be heading back."

Rini wanted to protest. She didn't want this perfect moment between them to ever end. In fact, she would be perfectly happy if they just continued chasing the sun west forever. But that would be selfish of her. Helios belonged to the world, even though hardly anyone knew that he existed. As the high priest of Elysian, it was his job to watch over and protect everyone's dreams. He couldn't stop someone from giving up their dream, or prevent the nightmares that people created in their minds, but he used his power to keep the dreams that people held close to their hearts safe. And it would be petty of her to take him away from his duties when so many people depended on him.

So she nodded her head. "I guess you're right. Your work is never done. It's always nighttime somewhere, and people are sleeping. They need you to protect their beautiful dreams so that they won't be taken from them."

He laughed as he turned back in the direction of the palace and began flying at a leisurely pace. "It isn't as hard as you make it sound, especially since Nehelenia was purified and is no longer a threat. There are still some dream sucking demons that roam the dream realm, and from time to time one of them will pop up and decide to start some trouble. But the priestesses keep an eye out for them and let me know pretty quickly when one of them surfaces. They can be nasty little buggers sometimes, but running them off is usually a fairly easy task."

A giggle bubbled in her throat at the casual way he talked about routing demons just like most people would speak of swatting a pesky mosquito. It was just hard to picture him actually fighting.

He turned his head to look back at her, his amber eyes curious. "Did I say something funny?"

She choked back her amusement. "No. I was just trying to imagine you ordering a demon out of someone's dream. You've always seemed so sweet and kind to me. It's hard to picture."

He looked insulted. "I may not possess the physical abilities to fight the way your father and his generals, or even your mother and her scouts do, and my power may be far less powerful than theirs and yours. I admit that I would be useless in a battle like the ones that you have fought in, but I am _not _completely helpless. I _am _capable of being assertive and driving out those that threaten the dreams of others."

Tears stung Rini's eyes at his outburst. She hadn't meant to make him angry. She didn't care if he couldn't dust a youma to save his life. She thought he was perfect the way he was. "Helios, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply…"

"No, I'm sorry," he interrupted her. "I had no reason to snap at you that way. I guess I just get a little defensive sometimes. It's not easy to be the weakest one when you know so many powerful people."

"But you're not weak!" she insisted hotly. "Your job is very important! Everyone depends on you to keep their dreams safe. Can you imagine what a dismal place the world would be if everyone's beautiful dreams were sucked away from them? And Elysian would go back to looking like it did when Nehelenia tried to take over." She shuddered at the memory of what a dark, dreary place the dream world had been at that time.

"No!" she stated firmly. "I don't ever want to see that again. And I never want you to doubt your strength. It's not how much power someone has that determines how strong they are; it's how they use it. Believe me, neither I, nor anyone else I know, would be able to do what you do. You are strong, just in your own way."

He chuckled. "That sounded strangely like a Neo Queen Serenity pep talk."

She tossed her pink pigtails back to fly out behind her. "Well I guess I had to inherit something from her. Dad always says that I can talk as much as she ever did. At least I always try to make sure I have something important to say."

'_Oh, I think you're more like your mother than you give yourself credit for,' _Helios thought, but he wisely kept his comment to himself. His little princess was going through a volatile age the moment, and had been having a rough time with her relationship with her mother in particular. And while he knew from her dreams that her biggest wish was to grow up to be a lady like the queen, he also knew that right now she may not appreciate the similarities between her and her mother being pointed out. Such was the mentality of a teenager.

But he had seen Sailor Moon in action, and he knew the benevolent, yet strong-willed, queen that she would become someday, and he couldn't help but compare the similarities between the reincarnated moon princess and her daughter. He had known from the beginning that the younger princess was fiercely loyal to those that she called friend, as was her mother, but he had still been astounded when he had come to in Nehelenia's lair, in his human body, and had found a pint-sized sailor scout in pink standing defensively before him.

He held back a laugh that was half pride and half amusement as he remembered the way that Rini, as Sailor Mini Moon, had practically flown into the face of the dark queen, demanding that she let him go and return Elysian to its proper state. Granted, he had been scared to death for her safety at the time, but she had fought back with everything that she had. And thankfully, everything had turned out okay in the end. Endymion had been reunited with the Golden Crystal and the Dead Moon Circus's reign of darkness had ended.

"Helios, are you okay?" Rini asked him hesitantly. "You got really quiet all of a sudden."

He pulled himself out of his memories and back into the present. "I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"About what?" she wanted to know.

He shook his head. "It was nothing." Then he spotted two birds flying slightly ahead of them. They were probably heading to their nest in the woods that surrounded the palace for the night. "What do you say? Should we race them back?"

"Sure!" she laughed as she flattened out against his back to wrap her arms around his neck. "Let's show them who owns the sky around here!"

He flapped his wings harder and leveled out as they picked up speed. They shot through the darkening sky, passing the clueless birds in just a matter of seconds. All too soon, they had reached the palace once again, and he landed softly next to the lake.

Rini giggled as she slipped from his back, trying in vain to smooth her tangled, wind-blown hair. "Oh man! That was fun!"

He couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. "Yes it was. Maybe we can do it again sometime soon since you've decided to start visiting here again."

Her laughter skittered to a nervous stop at his words, and she watched in wide-eyed amazement as he transformed into his human form in a glow of golden energy and a flurry of feathers.

He gave her a grin as he dusted off his white robes. "There we go! Now I can speak to you properly."

That was true, but Rini couldn't help wishing that he would turn back into Pegasus. She had no trouble talking to him when he was in that form. It was easier for some reason. Okay, so he was the same person on the inside no matter how he looked on the outside, but when he was Pegasus he turned back into her friend and confidante that she could tell anything to. When he was Helios she felt clumsy and stupid around him. Like right now, her arms and legs felt too long for her body and her mouth was so dry that she doubted that she would be able to form a single coherent word, even if she could think of something intelligent to say. So she wrapped her arms awkwardly around herself and kept her lips closed.

Helios, noticing her sudden silence and tense posture, tried to joke with her. "What's the matter? I didn't say anything to offend you, did I?"

She shook her head violently; pink hair flying all around her.

He started to look a little apprehensive. "Are you sure? You just seem…out of sorts now. I thought we were having a good time."

Her voice creaked back to life. "We are. I just…" she wasn't sure exactly what her problem was. She'd thought that she'd made some progress with her feelings about the dream priest the night before when she had visited with him after he had helped Darien heal Serena after her little fiasco. She hadn't even spazzed out when he had kissed her on the forehead. But now, here she was, feeling more tongue-tied and ridiculous than ever.

She tossed her head rebelliously. If there was one thing that her parents had always taught her, it was to be honest. And she was tired of always feeling so inadequate when she was around Helios. She wanted their old, easy-going relationship back. So maybe if she confessed to feeling confused when she was with him, this horrible feeling would go away.

"Helios, I need to tell you the reason why I have been avoiding you recently," she stated bluntly. Might as well go ahead and get the humiliation over with as quickly as possible.

Comprehension lit his eyes as he shook his head. "No, my maiden. No explanation is needed."

"Oh, but there is!" she insisted. "I…"

"Really, there is no need for you to say it," he interrupted her. "I already know and I understand."

"Y…you…know?" she sputtered. Then she denied, "No! You can't possibly know. I've never told anybody this!"

"Rini," he said softly, causing her protests to die. He had never called her by her name before. Once, during the fight with Nehelenia, he had called her Mini Moon. But other than that one time he had always referred to her as maiden, her highness, or Princess Serenity. Never had he called her by the nickname that all of her friends and family, with the exception of Sailor Pluto, who stubbornly refused to call her anything except Small Lady, despite her many protests, used.

"Rini," he drawled again in a smooth tone that made her bones feel like they were melting. She'd never thought that her name could sound so…exotic…coming from someone else's lips. But in his tenor voice it sounded like music. "Please, just hear me out here. There is no sense in you stressing yourself over this. I know where you are coming from, and I'm okay with it."

She looked at him skeptically. "We so cannot be talking about the same thing. If you only knew…"

"That you have feelings for me?" he interjected calmly. Then he smiled at her. "Rini, I do know, and I have for quite some time now, probably before you even realized it. And I promise you, it is okay."

"Oh my God! I'm so embarrassed!" she cried as she buried her blazing red face in her hands. Mortified tears burned in her eyes. "You must think that I am sooo stupid!"

Cool hands encircled her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. Then fingers were under her chin to tilt her head back so that she could look up into his calm, yet slightly irritated looking face.

"You are _not _stupid!" he almost growled. "You are a bright and intelligent young woman. And I feel honored that you would choose me to have affections for. If it makes you feel better, I confess that I find myself drawn to you as well."

She tried to pull away from his grip. "Oh! You're just saying that! There is no way that you could have feelings for me! I'm just a little kid compared to you!"

He chuckled gently. "It's true that, um, quite a few centuries separate us. But what is that modern saying that I heard? _"Age is just a number?" _I believe that there is some truth to that. It's not how old someone is; it's who they are on the inside that defines them. Sure, you're young right now, but it won't be long until you're grown. And when you are I'll be waiting for you, if you decide that you still care for me when that time comes."

Her already wide eyes grew impossibly larger. "What are you saying, Helios?"

He brushed a loose curl back from her still pink cheek. "I'm saying that I love you, my dearest Rini. I know that there is nothing that we can do about it now, but I am willing to wait until you have grown into the wonderful woman that I know you will become. And if you decide that you would like to give _us _a try, I'll be right here."

"You…you're actually serious…aren't you?" she stammered in shock.

His amber eyes stared deeply into her maroon ones. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Well…no," she conceded. "I know that you would never lie to me. But did you really mean it when you said that you love me?"

"With all of my heart," he promised her fervently.

She let out a glad cry as she flung herself at him to hug him tightly around the waist. "Oh, Helios! I don't know what the future holds for us, but I love you too!"

* * *

"Die, you stupid youma! Die!" Serena growled under her breath as she pounded away on the video game console before her. She groaned a few seconds later when the miniature Sailor V on the screen lost her last life and the words _Game Over _flashed across the screen. She kicked the machine in a fit of temper.

"Hey! Take it easy on the hardware!" Andrew called laughingly from his spot behind the counter. "I don't see what you're getting so worked up about anyway. You've owned the top score for almost two years now and no one has even come close to beating you."

She glanced back over her shoulder at him and stuck her tongue out. "But Mina has second and third place, and I want them. My goal is to annihilate her at her own game. Now if you two women would quit gossiping so much, I would like to get my milkshake please." She turned back to the game and fed another token into it.

Andrew arched a brow at Darien, who was sitting across the counter from him. "Did she just call us girls?"

Darien set his cup of coffee down. "Nope. She called us women. At least that sounds a tad bit more respectable. I guess you better fix her up a milkshake before she decides to go Godzilla or King Kong on us. You know how she gets when she doesn't get her sugar fix."

Andrew reached for a shake glass, chuckling. "Some things never change, I suppose. Then again, some things do." He paused with a scoop of ice cream hovering over the glass. "So I guess you're really going to this Harvard thing, huh?"

"Looks that way," Darien replied with a shrug. "I sent off my acceptance e-mail a little while ago, so now I just have to wait on a reply from the administration to give me all the particulars. Nothing is set in concrete yet though. I could still change my mind and stay here."

"Serena would never let you now that you've committed to it," Andrew told him sagely.

His dark haired friend sighed. "I know. But after the last fiasco with me trying to leave it almost kills me to even think about leaving again. It just feels like it is too soon. I've only been back for a few months."

"A year can be a long time," Andrew commented as he added milk and chocolate to the ice cream in the glass and put it on the mixing machine.

Darien shook his head. "It could be longer than that. The program at Harvard is pretty intense and extensive, and there is a second course available to those who qualify. If I do well in the first part I may be accepted to the second. So I may be there longer than just a year."

"Does Serena know that?" Andrew asked quickly.

Darien nodded. "Yeah. I told her that, hoping that it might keep her from being so adamant about me going. But she's just so damn understanding about everything!"

"That's Serena for you," Andrew replied as he removed the shake from the mixer and began topping it with mounds of whipped cream. "But this time will be different than last time. You have a cell phone now. And if I go longer than a week without hearing from you or being able to get in touch with you, I'm going to come looking for you personally. I refuse to go through thinking that my best friend has ditched me for his fancy Harvard classmates again. Of course, I would have known something was wrong before if Serena hadn't hidden things so well. She made it sound like you two were sending daily letters and talking on the phone twice a week. If the girls hadn't gotten suspicious when she started acting strange and decided to do some investigating, we wouldn't have found out that you never made it to school. We never have figured out why she didn't tell us from the beginning that she had lost contact with you."

Darien grimaced into his coffee. "I think she felt like you did, that I had abandoned her for some glorious college experience. As if I could ever do anything like that to her! But, like you said, this time is going to be different. Serena's parents bought her a computer for Christmas, and I've been shopping around for web cams. I'm going to get us each one so we can see each other when we chat."

Andrew snorted. "How romantic! Last time you left you put a ring on her finger. This time you're arming her with a cell phone and a web cam. I guess I can see why though. I wish Rita had a web cam. I have one, and I mentioned something to her once about me buying her one and sending it to her, but she told me not to bother. She's pretty hopeless when it comes to running a computer and has a hard time just trying to check her e-mail."

That sounded a little odd to Darien. "Really? I didn't picture Rita as being the technologically challenged type. She's always excelled at everything. Besides, doesn't she have to use computers with her schooling and her work?"

The sandy blonde shrugged. "I suppose she does a little. She's not completely clueless about the internet. She knows enough to be able to look things up. She just has trouble running a computer in general."

"Everybody has faults. I guess that must be hers," Darien quipped, but he still felt a little uneasy for some reason. Maybe it was just a reaction to the slightly saddened expression that had suddenly appeared on his friend's face. Was there trouble in the Drew/Rita paradise world? But he didn't pry. If Andrew wanted to tell him his problems, then he would. The entire Furuhata family were gossip-holics that had a hard time keeping anything to themselves. So if there was a problem, he was sure he'd find out.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood. "If you already have a cam, then that means we'll be able to chat too. The time zones may make it a little difficult, but I'm sure we can find a decent time for both of us to be able to kick back and have a beer together every now and then."

Andrew snickered. "Nice! The first ever internet kegger. I'm in!"

Darien rolled his eyes. "You know, I really worry about your mental balance sometimes."

"It's not my mental balance you should worry about, it's Serena's." Andrew finished shaking chocolate sprinkles over the milkshake and slid it across the counter to him. "And you better get that shake to her before she has to be committed to the psycho ward."

"Why do I have to take it to her? You're the one that works here," Darien mock-complained.

Andrew flicked a dishtowel at him. "Because, stud, she'll appreciate more coming from you. Besides, I'm busy." He went to the other end of the counter to help a few young teenage boys that had walked up.

Darien chuckled and picked up the shake before getting up from his stool and strolling over to the pigtailed blonde girl sitting at the Sailor V game.

"Argh!" she shrieked as he came up behind her. "I can't believe I died again! I was so close to making it onto the leader board that time!"

"What's wrong, are you losing your touch?" he asked her in a humorous voice. "Maybe you should stick to dusting the real monsters and leave the video game ones to the middle school students."

"Don't start being a jerk!" she snapped. "I admit that I have lost a bit of my edge, but that's only because I haven't sat down and seriously played in a long time. I've been too busy saving the world, bringing people back from the dead, and studying."

"Okay," he replied in a placating tone. "You don't have to bite my head off. Especially when I come bearing a gift."

She spun around on her stool, her expression brightening when she saw the milkshake in his hand. "At last! There for a minute I thought that I was going to have to report Drew to his dad for customer neglect."

She took the shake from him and drew deeply on the straw a few times. Then she sighed dreamily. "Ah! That's much better! There's nothing like one of Drew's shakes when you need a mid-afternoon pick me up. So did you two have a nice, cozy chat? I swear you guys sometimes talk just as much as we girls do."

He gave her a superior smirk. "It's called communication, Meatball Head. And it's kind of necessary when two people want to share their thoughts. Not everybody can share a bond the way we do."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Yeah, yeah! So is he okay? He looks a little down to me."

"I think he's just stressing over Rita," he told her casually. "It's only natural, I suppose, since she'll be coming home in about a month or so. He's probably just getting antsy."

"Poor guy," she commiserated. "I feel kind of bad, like we've been neglecting him lately since the generals came back. I know we come in here practically everyday, but it's been a while since we've just hung out, outside the arcade and without a million other people around us."

He arched a brow at her. "I see the wheels turning in your head. What do you suggest we do?"

Her eyes began sparkling excitedly. "How about we invite him over to your place tonight? We'll watch movies, have junk food, and just chill. I'll even let you watch action movies without complaining."

"That does sound like a good idea," he agreed. "I'll ask him if he wants to."

Then Serena was off and babbling as she began making plans. "Great! We'll have to go to the grocery store and stock up on munchies and stuff. We'll need chips and dip for sure, and popcorn. You can't watch a movie without popcorn. Ooo, and ice cream too! We'll have to pick up some more sodas too. I suppose we should probably go by the apartment first so we can check on Rini again and see if there is anything in particular that she would like. Then we…"

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down a minute there, Killer!" Darien cautioned her. "We haven't even invited Drew yet. He may say no."

She shot him a blinding smile. "Ya wanna bet! Drew is like my big brother, and he would never turn down an invite from yours truly. Just watch!" She was off her stool like a shot and flitting across the arcade toward the counter, amazingly without tripping.

Darien snickered snidely when he saw three boys, who had just come in and looked to be around fifteen or so, turn their heads to look appreciatively after Serena as she passed their booth. He couldn't blame them for looking though. She looked hot in her pale pink tank top that showed off her slender arms and just a hint of cleavage. And her tanned legs seemed to stretch on for miles under the hem of her white shorts. Pair that with her golden hair and big blue eyes, and she was a total bombshell.

"That's right, rookies, go ahead and look all you want. But she's mine," he muttered under his breath.

The boys hadn't noticed Darien, since he was still standing by the Sailor V game and it was kind of tucked away in a corner, so they didn't bother to hide the fact that they were practically drooling as they craned their necks to get the best view of Serena possible. Then they groaned as they saw her give Andrew a big hug.

"I should have known that she was already taken," the boy with shaggy, dirty blonde hair grumbled.

"The best looking ones usually are," replied another, who had his hair buzzed so close that it was impossible to tell exactly what color his hair was. "Besides, she's older than us. I'd say that she's at least a junior, maybe even a senior."

"I like them older," the first boy snapped back. "Things go so much smoother when you have a girl that actually knows what she's doing."

The second boy snorted. "Like you would know! I bet you've never even seen a real pair of tits, much less touched any."

"Hey! Hey!" the third boy, who had stayed out of the conversation until now, broke into the squabble that had erupted between his friends. He had long, stringy black hair and an air about him that screamed that he was a troublemaker. Darien made a mental note to tell Andrew to keep an eye on these three in case they decided to stir up anything.

"Anyway," stringy hair drawled in a tone that suggested that he was the leader of this particular group. "I didn't come here to hang out with you losers so that I could listen to you debate about your sex life, or lack thereof. Yes, the blonde chick is smokin, and if she were to drop it off I'd bang her a few times. But there are plenty of other fish in the sea."

Then his dark, beady little eyes began to glitter. "And I do believe that I see the next little fishy now. Take a look at that hot little piece walking in the door."

Darien, who had been standing there with his fists clenched to keep from knocking the crap out of those little bastards for talking about Serena that way, looked up to see what poor girl had attracted their attention now. His heart thumped when he saw Rini step through the sliding doors.

The first two boys let out low whistles as they got their first look at Rini. Although she was a couple of inches shorter and not quite as developed as her future mother, she still possessed a toned and trim little figure thanks to her hours spent training and fighting as a sailor scout.

Darien thought she looked adorable in a pair of cut-off shorts and a tie-dyed baby doll tee in shades of pink, blue, and purple.

The teenaged boys thought she looked good too, just in a completely different way. Their eyes were glued to her as she spotted Serena with Andrew and went to join them.

"Check it out!" the dirty blonde exclaimed. "She looks a lot like the hot blonde, just younger. Do you think they might be sisters or something?"

The buzz-cut boy nodded. "It sure as hell looks like it. I know I said that I wasn't going to go after the middle school girls anymore now that we are officially freshmen, but for her I might make an exception. But knowing my luck she's probably already hooked up with some dude just like her sister."

Stringy hair grinned maliciously as he twirled a straw in his fingers. "There's one way to find out. Why don't we invite her to join us? If she does, then we'll ask her if she wants to blow this lame place. My parents are gone for the day, so I have the house to myself. We could go back there and maybe have a little fun. I've got a bottle of vodka that I bought off a guy. We could have some drinks and see what happens. Who knows, maybe we'll all get lucky today."

"Heads up! Here she comes!" shaggy blonde told them as he lounged back into a pose the he must consider to be cool. If he only knew how stupid he looked.

The other two boys did the same, trying to look bored and nonchalant, and instead they ended up looking like jackasses.

Darien started to step forward to keep the boys from harassing Rini, but then he melted back into his hidden spot again with a gleeful grin. When riled, Rini had a tongue that could hold its own against Raye or Amara any day of the week. And he also knew that she liked to fight her own battles. Besides, he was just a few steps away if those lowlifes tried anything on her and would be able to jump in easily if he had to.

Serena must have told Rini that Darien was in the back corner, because that was where her attention was focused as she strolled through the arcade. She walked right past the boys without even noticing them.

"Hey, baby!" the black haired boy called to her. "Why don't you come keep me and my friends company for a while."

Rini paused and then turned to look over her shoulder at them. She raked them with a repugnant glare before snapping, "I don't think so. You _boys _so aren't my type."

"I can be any type you want me to be, sweet thing!" buzz-cut told her as he eyed her up and down hungrily. "I'm sure that together we can find something that you like about me."

"Yeah," the dirty blonde agreed. "Many men have been known to change to be with a beautiful woman."

"Yeah, men! That's something that you will never be accused of being. You're just boys trying to pretend to be men. Get a life!" she snapped back. Then she whirled back around.

The stringy, black haired boy shot forward, intending to grab her hand. "Just who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

"Touch me, and I guarantee that I will personally rip your arm off and shove it down your throat!" she growled without even turning around.

The boy withdrew sharply; obviously shocked that she had sensed his sudden movement. He tried to cover his hesitation by blustering, "Did you actually just threaten me?"

"It wasn't a threat. It was a promise," she replied primly.

"Whoa!" buzz-cut sighed under his breath. "What are you, some kind of femme fatale or something?"

Rini looked back at them again, this time with a positively evil smile on her face. "You better hope and pray you never find out exactly what I'm capable of. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a real _man _to go see."

Figuring that it was a good time to announce his presence, Darien stepped into view. He'd also thought of the perfect way to get a jab in at these boys, so he turned the heart-stopping, bone-melting smile he usually reserved for Serena on his future daughter and held his arms open as he drawled smoothly, "Hello, princess."

Catching on quickly to what he was doing, Rini beamed a thousand-watt smile back at him as she squealed, "Darien!" and flung herself into his arms to hug him tightly.

"Man, that's whacked!" dirty blonde muttered.

Buzz-cut nodded. "That's sick! He's like way too old!"

A little devil of amusement danced through Darien's brain, making him look at the boys over the top of Rini's head and say, "Yep! She's mine. And you know the hot blonde you guys were drooling over a few minutes ago? That's my other girl."

"You need professional help," stringy hair told him as he scrambled from the booth. "Let's get out of here guys. This place is full of nutjobs!"

Rini burst into giggles as the three boys practically ran for the exit. "Well, I guess we told them, huh?"

Darien chuckled as he gave her one last squeeze before letting her go. "I guess we did. So how are you feeling kiddo? I was kinda surprised to see you come walking in."

"I feel tons better than I did earlier. Those pills that Serena gave me finally kicked in and then I had a nice, long nap." She felt herself blush a little bit at the memory of that nap and quickly moved on. "So Serena said something about a party at your place tonight?"

"It's not a party," he corrected her. "Serena just thought it would be nice to invite Andrew over for some movies and junk food. He's been a little down lately and she thought it might boost his spirits."

"Hmm…" she mused, comparing the Andrew that she could see to the Andrew she knew back home in her mind, and she could see the differences. The Andrew she had known all her life was a laid back, happy go lucky guy who was always ready with a laugh. The Andrew here was almost exactly the same, but there was a sadness in his eyes that his older self didn't have.

"Yeah," Darien continued. "I think he's been stressed out about Rita lately. It hasn't been easy on him, having her so far away. But she'll be home soon, and they'll probably be making wedding plans before you know it."

Rini couldn't stop the snort that left her.

Darien eyed her curiously. "What was that for?"

She waved a hand at him. "It was nothing."

The most important rule of time travel was not to speak of things that happen in the future or you might inadvertently change the past. So she couldn't tell him what she was thinking even if she wanted to. But still, she could just imagine the look on Andrew's wife's face if she had heard the words that had just come out of Darien's mouth. It would be priceless! That also made her wonder how the future Mrs. Furuhata was doing in this time. Knowing her, she was probably sitting on a sunny beach somewhere in southern California, doodling away while she guzzled cherry coke by the gallon, at least for now. She would have to remember to ask Helios the next time she saw him.

"So do you think he'll say yes?" she asked Darien.

"Of course he said yes. I knew he would," Serena cut in as she bounded toward them.

Darien reached out to catch her as she tripped over absolutely nothing and stumbled. He grinned broadly. Having Serena go one full day without tripping at least once was just too much to ask for, but she was getting there.

She flashed him a blinding smile. "Thanks, sweetie! Now! Drew said he's all for a hang out night, as long as I don't make him sit through any _chick flicks_. He also said that he would make some goodies to bring over." Her mouth watered at the thought. "But we still need to hit the grocery store for a few things and some sodas. I don't think there's anything left to drink in the refrigerator except some bottled water."

"There was one coke left in the back, but I took it," Rini said slyly.

Serena stuck her tongue out at her. "You would! Anyway! I'm almost done with my milkshake." She held up her glass, which was indeed down to the last few sips. "So I figure we can head to the store in just a few minutes."

"Hold your horses there, Meatball Head!" Rini exclaimed. "Contrary to what you think, I didn't come in here looking for you. I came in because I am craving a milkshake. So you can go on to the store if you want to, but I'm not going anywhere until I get my fix."

"That won't take long," Darien muttered in a voice that he thought was too low for them to hear.

But they did hear him, and they both whirled on him as they exclaimed, "And what exactly is that supposed to mean!" in perfect unison.

He held up his hands in defense. "Nothing! I was just making a random comment about the excellent milkshake prowess you two have. If milkshake drinking were an Olympic sport, I'm sure both of you would be gold medalists."

Serena stuck her nose up in the air and spun on her heel. "Come along, Rini! I think we've both just been insulted by the biggest jerkwad on the planet. Let's go get your milkshake and let him stew while he waits."

Chuckling, Darien followed them both to the counter where Rini ordered her shake. He knew Serena wasn't really angry with him. Sometimes they just found it easy to slip back into their old routine of picking on each other. But it was all in good fun and they knew it.

They were all sitting at the counter, discussing movie options with Andrew, when the double doors to the arcade slid open and Jadeite walked in.

The blonde jokester took one look at Serena and hurried toward her. "I was hoping that you would be here. I need your help."

Serena's eyes widened in shock as he almost went to his knees in front of her. "Jed! What's the matter? I thought you were going to the market with Raye."

He nodded his head. "I did. We walked around for a few hours and she did some shopping. I just dropped her off at her place a little while ago, but now I need some advice."

Darien snorted into the soda that he'd ordered to pass the time. "You need advice, and you're coming to Serena? Brave man."

Serena shot him a glare. "Oh, shut up! What do you need, Jed?"

He spilled out the entire story of his afternoon; how Raye had bet him that he couldn't be a gentleman and he had proven her wrong, and how he had requested a date from her as his prize for winning the bet.

"But now I'm not sure exactly where to take her," he admitted helplessly.

"You should probably go to Mina for this," Serena muttered.

"I did," he snorted derisively. "She was at my place when I got home, so I asked her opinion. But she seemed kind of out of it, like she had something on her mind. Maybe she and Kunzite had a fight or something. Anyway, she threw out a few ideas, but none of them sounded _right_. So I thought I'd ask your opinion. You know Raye better than anyone."

"I wouldn't say better than anyone," Serena protested.

"But you're her best friend," he insisted. "You know her likes and dislikes, and where she likes to go and what she likes to do better than I do at the moment. Please! Just give me a few suggestions!"

"Okay! Okay! Let me think for a second," she muttered. "I guess what you're going for is comfortable and casual, with a slight romantic feel that isn't blatantly obvious, huh?"

"Yes! That's it exactly," he sighed in relief, thankful that she had understood. When he had asked Mina for her advice she'd told him that women liked to be swept off their feet and had suggested a lavish dinner at a posh restaurant followed by a trip to one of the many nightclubs in town where they could _'get their bump and grind on and ramp up the heat between them' _as she'd put it. After that, she'd told him, he just might get lucky and find Raye willing to spend the night in his bed.

He, the resident pervert of the group, actually flushed a little at the memory of Mina saying that. Okay, so he wouldn't complain about having Raye in his bed. It was actually one of his deepest desires at the moment. But hell! They had only been an official couple for about two days. The steamy passion that had existed between him and her past self still burned hot between them, he'd felt in the kisses that they'd shared, but there was still some reservation between them, at least on Raye's part, and he wasn't going to ruin things by jumping her right away. If their relationship unfolded like it had during the Silver Millennium, it would happen soon enough. He and Princess Rei hadn't gotten along well in the beginning either, but once they had admitted that they had feelings for each other things had exploded quickly between them. So he was willing to wait for a little while if he had to.

"Hmm…" Serena mused to herself for a moment. Then, she snapped her fingers. "Ah ha! I've got it!" She beckoned Jadeite closer. "Tell me what you think about this."

* * *

Kunzite carefully lifted the blonde head from his shoulder and laid it on the pillow beside him.

Mina squirmed a little in her sleep, but then seemed to settle back down. Her breathing was slow, deep, and even, so it was pretty clear that she was deeply asleep.

He drew in a relieved breath as he sat up and then slid as gently and as quietly as possible from the bed. She'd been asleep for a while, but she had been very restless until just recently, tossing, turning, and even whimpering a few times as she slept. Whatever she had been dreaming must have really been bothering her.

He supposed it was only normal. She had been shaken up ever since they had met her young fan at the mall earlier and the girl had brought up the name Ace Kaitou. She had calmed down some in the car when she had haltingly told him some of the story about what had happened between her and the man that she'd thought was her ally, who ended up actually being a Dark Kingdom flunky who had served under him, but he knew there was more to the story. He could see it in her eyes when she'd looked at him.

He'd brought her back to his place, at her request, after they'd left the mall. They'd run into Jadeite in the foyer when they'd gotten there. And while she had seemed to be okay while giving out some of her outlandish love advice to the blonde general, he had picked up on some obvious signs that pointed to the opposite. Her voice had been slightly more higher pitched than usual and her eyes had darted about like a frightened animal. So as soon as he could he had brought her up to his suite.

As soon as they had gotten there she had dragged him to his bedroom and had pushed him down on the bed. He'd been about to vehemently voice a protest, he hadn't wanted to make love to her while she seemed so emotionally fragile, be then he discovered that his Aphrodite had something completely different in mind than he'd thought. She'd crawled onto the bed beside him and stretched out.

"See," she'd giggled. "We couldn't do this in my bed. It's much too small. We'd be packed in like anchovies."

"I think you mean sardines, sweetheart," he'd replied gently as he'd rolled toward her.

She let out another nervous giggle. "Oh yeah! I always get those two confused."

"Mina," he'd tried in a serious tone. "I think we need to talk. You…"

She'd cut him off by placing her fingers over his lips. "I don't want to talk about what happened to me. It's done, over, and in the past. I don't ever want to discuss that subject ever again."

Then she pushed him onto his back again and curled up close to his side with her head resting on his shoulder, muttering, "Maybe we should have gone to my place. The smaller bed could have come in handy for cuddling. But I'm pretty sure Artemis is there, and I don't want to listen to his cranky-kitty grumbling. Just hold me for a while, Kunzite. I always feel safe when I'm with you."

So that was what he had done, and eventually she had fallen asleep. But he had stayed awake, mulling things over in his head and trying like crazy to remember his memories from the time when he had been with Beryl and that bastard Danburite had been serving under him. Unfortunately, those memories had stubbornly remained either extremely vague or nonexistent.

As he was stretching out his stiff muscles, he wondered briefly if perhaps any of the other scouts, Serena in particular, had any insight into that period of time of Mina's life, but then he quickly discarded that idea. It seemed to be a taboo subject for her, and, not that he considered himself to be superior over her closest friends, but if she had been so adamant about not discussing it with him, he doubted that she had with the girls either.

He was walking to the bathroom when the answer hit him. _ARTEMIS! _If anyone would know about the dark details of Mina's experience as Sailor V, it would be the feline advisor who had been with her from the beginning. Now he just needed to convince the sometimes moody cat that he could trust him enough to talk to him. That could prove to be tricky.

He hurried into the bathroom and freshened up quickly. Then he rushed back into the bedroom and went to his desk where he grabbed a pen and sheet of paper to dash off a quick note.

Sweetheart – I had to run out for a few minutes. If you wake up before I get back just make yourself at home. I'll return soon.

He paused for a moment, feeling a little silly. It was one thing to tell a woman that you loved her to her face, but was another thing to put it in writing. He didn't want to hurt Mina's feelings though, so he hastily scribbled _Love Kunzite _at the bottom of the note and left it on his pillow where she could easily find it if she woke. Then he shoved his feet into his shoes, patted his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and cell phone, and grabbed his keys from a table before he took off.

Luckily, he didn't encounter anyone on his way out. Zoicite was gone out of town with Amy for a couple of days. Jadeite, he assumed, was off somewhere preparing for his date with Raye that he had been rambling about earlier. And he hadn't seen nor heard from Nephrite since they had run into each other earlier in the day at Darien's apartment, so he was probably out with Lita somewhere.

The elevator ride down to the garage seemed to take forever, and he fidgeted nervously, which was uncommon for him. He and Artemis had never been bosom buddies. During the Silver Millennium, Artemis had accepted the fact that he was Minako's soul mate, and had treated him with respect, but there had always been an aloof coolness in the feline's attitude toward him. And while Artemis seemed to have reconciled to the fact that he was here and in Mina's life, he had remained wary and watchful, like he was looking for any signs that the general might once again betray the woman that he professed to love.

Yes, this could be a very intense meeting indeed. But Kunzite wanted answers about Mina's fight with Danburite, and if he had to brave Artemis's almost hostile attitude, then so be it. He was the former head general of the Terran army. Certainly he could survive against an overprotective kitty.

He finally made it to the garage to find that his Highlander was the only vehicle there. He quickly got behind the wheel and started the engine. In less than a minute he was out on the streets and heading toward Mina's neighborhood.

It was a short drive, and in just a few short minutes he found himself pulling up in front of the large, two-story house that belonged to Mina's parents. He killed the ignition and got out of the SUV. As he walked up the walkway he debated the best way to confront Artemis.

Figuring the direct approach was probably best; he looked around to make sure that no neighbors were watching. Luckily, the sun had gone down a short time before, so chances of anyone seeing him were pretty much zero. Then he leapt up onto the small balcony outside Mina's room and pushed open the unlocked glass door.

A white ball of fur curled up on the orange comforter covering the bed twitched a little before a voice grumbled, "For Aphrodite's sake, Mina! I know it's dark out, but can't you use the front door like a normal person?"

Kunzite couldn't help but snicker. "Oh, I'm sorry! Should I go back down and ring the bell?"

Artemis barely cracked his blue eyes open to glare at the general. "Oh! It's just you." Then his eyes fell shut again. A few seconds later they flew back open as he jumped to his feet with his hackles raised, back arched, and tail bushy.

"What are _you _doing here alone?" he demanded hotly. "Where is Mina? I thought she was with you."

"She is with me, or at least she was," Kunzite told him calmly. "She fell asleep at my place so I left her there."

Artemis didn't relax a muscle. "Okay. Well that still doesn't explain to me why you are here."

Kunzite held up a placating hand. "Artemis, please. I know that you and I have never seen things eye to eye when it comes to Venus, whether she be Mina or Minako, but I'm begging you to hear me out. I'm worried about her, and you were the only one I could think to come to about this. You have been like an adopted father to her in both lives, and you probably know her better than anyone." Then he swallowed his pride and said, "I'm begging you, please, to talk to me. We both love her, and I'm only trying to understand more about her."

Artemis calmed considerably, but he still eyed the general warily. "What exactly are you wanting to know about?"

Kunzite sighed in relief that he actually seemed to be getting through to him and stated, "Ace Kaitou."

The feline's reaction was vicious and instantaneous. His recently smoothed fur raised back up again as he hissed, "Why do you want to know about _him_?"

Kunzite related the story to him about what had happened that day in the mall food court, Mina's reaction, and her subsequent reluctance to tell him much about it.

Artemis groaned at the end of the tale. "I should have known that nightmare would come back to bite us, especially with your return into her life. I had hoped that she had put it all behind her, but I guess she's held onto it more than I'd thought. She hasn't mentioned it in so long."

"What happened to her?" Kunzite asked quietly as he took a seat in Mina's desk chair.

Artemis studied him for a long moment, like he was struggling with the decision of whether or not he could trust the former dark general with the information he had. Finally he shook his head and asked, "How much has Mina told you about her life in London?"

Kunzite shrugged, "Quite a bit, though obviously not all of it. She said that she was living there with her parents while her father served in a diplomatic position. She met you when she was thirteen and you unlocked her scout powers. She also told me that part of her memories were returned when that happened, and since the Dark Kingdom had begun to search for the moon princess and the Silver Crystal that she took the form of Sailor V to fight them and wore a crescent moon mark on her forehead in hopes of tricking Beryl into thinking that she was Serenity until Serena and the other scouts had awakened. After that all she told me was that there was a big fight and an explosion. By that time Beryl had begun having her suspicions about whether or not she was the princess and had turned her sights on Tokyo and had started causing trouble here. Sailor Moon and the others had awakened and were fighting back, so when her father got transferred she packed up and moved here to join them. I didn't learn about Adonis, or Danburite, or whatever you want to call him until today."

"Well, she told you more than I though she would," Artemis sighed as he sank back down onto the comforter. "She gave you a pretty thorough rundown of things, but there was a bit more to it. And all of it was personal."

"Will you tell me, Artemis?" Kunzite asked quietly. "I'm trying to understand, but I feel lost."

The white cat hesitated for a moment, and then blew out an exasperated breath. "What the hell! I guess I have to become reconciled to the fact that you are here to stay. Fine! I'll tell you what I know. But if you ever tell Mina that I told you…"

"I won't," the platinum haired man reassured him quickly. "I just want to know why she was so upset. She said something about a curse."

"It's probably best that I start from the beginning," Artemis told him. "That way everything will be clear."

Kunzite sat forward in anticipation.

Artemis began slowly. "I'm not sure if you know this or not, but Luna and I are not reincarnations, just like you and the other generals aren't. When Queen Serenity used the power of her crystal to send everyone that died that last day on the moon to be reincarnated, she also put Luna and I into what I guess you could call a suspended state. And we remained that way for just over a thousand years.

"Now, and we've only been able to piece together information and speculate about this, so we're not sure if it's the truth, but Amy thinks it's probably what happened, so I believe her. When the Silver Crystal was born here inside of Serena, the seal that Queen Serenity had placed on the Dark Kingdom began to fail. Even then, it was several years before Beryl's magic was strong enough to completely break the seal. Which was good because it gave me and Luna time to set things up, like the control room under the arcade so that we could hook up with the moon's main computer and trying to use it to locate the scouts. I found Venus by accident while tracking some negative energy in England. We decided that she was the best bet for awakening first, since she was the leader of the scouts, so I went off to London while Luna stayed here to search for the others. When I got there I found that Danburite was already causing a fair amount of trouble, draining and gathering energy for the Dark Kingdom. I have to admit that the thought of putting the responsibility of fighting against him and his group into the hands of a thirteen year old girl was quite daunting, but I had no other choice."

He paused for a moment to take a few deep breaths before launching back into his tale. "Tracking Mina down wasn't hard. After all, she was quite a public figure then. I must say that the first time I saw her I was stunned speechless because she was a carbon copy of Minako at the same age. But as I observed her for a couple of days, I began to realize how different she was on the inside compared to Minako. Well, not different really, just less reserved because of her different upbringing this time. I was hesitant at first about awakening her scout powers because I wasn't sure if she could handle it, but in the end I had no choice. She was Venus, and we needed her in this fight.

"Now Queen Serenity had given us several things to help us with our mission, and among them were the scouts' original henshin wands, a brooch so that Serena could transform into Sailor Moon, and the Crescent Compact. Luna and I were confused at first about what the compact could be for, and the only instructions left with it was that we should give it to Sailor Venus when she was found. So that's what I did. The result was her changing into Sailor V instead of Venus."

Kunzite chuckled softly. "I'm sure she found that ironic, considering the movies that she was working on."

Even Artemis had to huff a laugh at that. "Yes, she did. That was when I realized that Queen Serenity had intended for Venus to act as a decoy for the princess until she and the other scouts had been awakened. Anyway, she took to fighting better than I had initially thought she would, and we were doing a pretty good job of keeping Beryl's flunkies at bay, until the time came for Mina to start filming her third movie. That was when the trouble started."

"That was when _he _showed up. Isn't it?" Kunzite growled.

The feline nodded. "Ace Kaitou had shown up in the entertainment world a few months before and his popularity had skyrocketed. Mina, like every other teenage girl, was completely fascinated by him. It was only a matter of time before they met since they moved in the same circles. And though my memories of the past were clouded and I couldn't remember Adonis, something about the guy just rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. I tried to warn Mina to be on her guard, but she's so stubborn and headstrong…"

"So what happened?" Kunzite asked after he'd given the cat a moment to collect his thoughts.

Artemis sighed. "There was a fight one night, and things weren't going too well. Mina was in a tight spot, and it was looking pretty hopeless. Then out of nowhere this playing card came flying through the air and saved her. And there he was, looking a bit like a Tuxedo Mask wannabe. It didn't take Mina long to figure out his identity, and that just boosted her infatuation with him up even higher, despite my warnings. He began showing up at every battle after that to help her, and even I had to admit the possibility that he might be an ally. Mina talked of retiring after the third movie was finished, but then Ace roped her into working on a movie with him."

Kunzite's brow furrowed. "She never mentioned being in a fourth movie."

"That's because it was never finished," Artemis told him. "The studio claimed that the explosion was a special effects malfunction and shut it down. In reality it was the fight between Venus and Danburite that caused it. One of his underlings attacked, but it was all a ploy set up by him to reel Mina in. They had a pretty heated confrontation, and that was when he revealed himself to be Adonis and started spouting off things that had happened in the past. He knew that you had been Minako's soul mate, but he thought that perhaps he could change fate and take her for himself. He also thought he might be able to overthrow the Dark Kingdom and claim the Earth as well. Mina had an intense reaction to his words, and her memories began returning, which awoke her true scout form as Sailor Venus. When Adonis realized that he still wouldn't be able to have her, he tried to kill her. When she released her power against him it caused the explosion and destroyed him. But just before he crumbled away he cursed her. He told her that she would never be able to find her true love and that she was fated to be tied to her duties and fight for the rest of her life. I tried to tell her that it was just desperate words spoken by a dying man, but his mother had been a gifted Venusian spiritualist, a witch some called her, and he had inherited some of his mother's powers. So she took his curse at face value."

"And her belief in that was probably strengthened when she came here and found herself faced with my brainwashed self," Kunzite groaned as he buried his face in his hands.

"It was a difficult time for her," Artemis admitted ruefully. "Part of me wishes that you could see how broken she was then. She was strong in front of everyone else. She tried her best to support Serena when Darien was taken. But when she was alone at night she was a different person. She spent many nights on this bed crying into her pillow."

Kunzite looked up at him and snarled, "If you're trying to make me feel lower than I already do, then you're doing a damn good job!"

Artemis appeared unruffled. "I'm just trying to make you understand where she's coming from. She thought her chance for finding love stood at zero. She moped about it for a while and then she tried to put it behind her. She embraced her Venusian nature for a time and even dated. Most boys never survived past the first date though. So eventually she gave it up as a lost cause and started spending all of her time either shopping or with the other girls. That was in between fights of course. We've been kept quite busy over the last few years. Now you, her soul mate, has miraculously reappeared in her life, and she is probably afraid that her happiness could be yanked away from her at any moment. So my advice to you is to be there for her as much as you can and try to understand if she is sometimes moody. Over time she will begin to believe that she can be as happy and in love as anybody else and finally be able to put that stupid curse behind her."

"That's what I plan to do," Kunzite reassured him as he stood. "In fact, I'd better be heading back to her. I've been gone longer than I planned, and I bet she's probably awake by now. And don't worry, Artemis. I'm going to take good care of her."

"You better. If you don't I will turn you into Cat Chow," Artemis grumbled. "And don't forget, this conversation never happened."

Kunzite grinned at him. "What conversation? I have no idea what you are talking about. Later!"

He slipped back out the balcony door and dropped silently to the ground. Then he jogged back to his SUV and got in. Just as he was turning the ignition, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and smiled at the text message he'd received.

_Hey! Where R U? I've been waiting – M_

He typed back, _On my way. Be there in a few – K_

Her reply was so quick that his phone buzzed again before he even had a chance to put his vehicle in gear. It read simply, _You better be!_

He laughed as he pulled away from the curb to return to very own, real life Aphrodite.

* * *

**A/N **So that's it for now. But never fear, I promised that the next part will quickly follow, and I meant it. We still have a few more couples to touch base with. I was trying to give all the couples a little screen time in this chapter, and that's how it ballooned up to such a length. Even I was getting overwhelmed trying to read the whole thing at once, and that's why I decided that it would probably be better to split it up. My grandmother has always said, _less is more_, and I think she might have a very valid point. So next up, Lita and Neph, Raye and Jed, and Amy and Zoi. If I get really ambitious today (and chug a lot of caffeine…lol) a little Mina and Kunz may make it in. But I'm not promising anything. So look for another update sometime in the next 24 hours. So now I'm off. Be the dears I know that you are and drop me those reviews to tell me what you thought. Be safe everyone! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	20. Love, Lust, Lechery, and Longing Part 3

**A/N **YES! I barely made it, but I managed two updates in two days. Okay, so I'm about ten minutes late in my time zone, so I hope no one will hold that against me. Whew! For a while there I thought I was going to make a complete liar out of myself. Real life has really been getting on my nerves today, but I didn't let it stop me. It just slowed me down for a bit. Anyhow, I loved the responses I got to the last chapter. There were a lot of fluff and aww moments in it. But now we are turning our sights on our other three couples, so here comes the embarrassment and sexual tension. But there's nothing _too _naughty going on (Tee-hee). I try to keep things fairly clean. Anyone that wants to can use their imaginations to fill in the gaps. So let me give out my hugs. BIG HUGS TO:

**Angelstar14**

**BostonBill**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**saveme57**

**sabina21**

**unlockurdestiny**

**GoldenDragon326**

**Usagi Carter**

**Wonderwomanbatmanfan**

**Seredhiel05**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**Ariel Night**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**Chibi Kitt**

**KageNoNeko**

**nickybluejess**

**Starrlight1812**

**LadyRosalie29**

**SailorCopperOwl**

**TheMoonPrincess110**

**kera69love**

And since this update has gone up so soon, I want to leave some extra hugs out for the people who haven't had a chance to read or review the previous chapter yet and will. So hugs to you guys too.

Okay, so this is the second half of what was originally a well over 50+ page chapter, so it's about the same length as the chapter before. No Sere/Dare or anything here. I'm just wrapping up things with the couples that didn't get screen time last time. So I hope it's not a disappointment.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 19

Love, Lust, Lechery, and Longing Part 3

* * *

Lita looked up from the sink where she was washing vegetables and called out, "Hey, Neph! Can you come turn the heat down on the stove? My hands are wet."

"Sure thing," Nephrite replied as he entered Lita's somewhat tiny kitchen and turned down the burner beneath a sizzling skillet. "Wow! It smells great in here."

Lita laughed as she set the bell pepper and carrots she had been washing on a nearby cutting board. "It's just a simple stir-fry. There's nothing gourmet about it."

He chuckled and gave her a quick kiss as he passed her on the way to the refrigerator. "Everything made by you tastes like gourmet."

"Sweet talker," she grumbled. "So did you find out if anything good is coming on tonight?"

"There are a few potential choices," he told her as he pulled a bottle of beer out of the fridge and then turned to lean against it. "It just depends on what you're in the mood for; sweet and sappy, things blowing up, blood and guts, or laughing your ass off."

"I vote for things blowing up or laughing my ass off," she quipped as she dried her hands on a dishtowel. "I get my feel of romance movies when hanging out with the girls and most horror flicks end up being too cheesy for words. Of course if our selection is too crappy you can go through my DVD's and see if anything catches your eye."

He grinned evilly at her as he stepped forward and snagged her around the waist with one arm. "Oh, I know what catches my eye."

"Behave yourself!" she laughed as she shoved him away. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's not wise to grab a woman that has easy access to a butcher knife?" She picked up said knife from the cutting board and began slicing the veggies.

He smirked at her. "Is that a threat, Jupiter?"

She pointed the knife at him. "I don't bother with threats. It's a promise. Now go find us something to watch. Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes."

"Yes ma'am!" He gave her a salute as he headed out of the kitchen.

"Weirdo," Lita grumbled under her breath, but it was in a fond way. She added the pepper and carrots that she had sliced to the steak strips and onion in the skillet and poured in a healthy amount of her own secret recipe stir-fry sauce. She tossed it all together as it began sizzling.

Ten minutes later they were settling on her couch with steaming plates of food.

"So what did we end up with," Lita asked as Nephrite picked up the remote to her DVD player from the coffee table and pressed a button. "Ooo, _The Matrix_. Good choice. I haven't seen it in a while," she said when the main menu screen appeared.

He shrugged. "Jed's been ranting about the entire trilogy for a while, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I don't normally trust his taste, but I thought it must be decent if you own the movies."

She nodded. "I think you'll like it. It has an interesting storyline and there's plenty of action. The special effects are killer too."

They sat back and dug into their food as the movie started.

"Mmm! This is really good," Nephrite complimented after the first bite.

She beamed a smile at him. "Naturally! Did you expect anything less?"

"Of course not!" he scoffed back. "I believe that you could make even regular old peanut butter and jelly taste like fillet mignon."

"I wouldn't go that far," she laughed. "Besides, I happen to like the way PB&J tastes. Now quit trying to be flattering, eat your dinner, and watch the movie."

"Bossy, bossy," he muttered with a grin before he fell silent.

Close to two and a half hours later, the ending credits began rolling across the screen.

Nephrite stretched his arms over his head. "Well I have to admit, that was pretty good."

"The movie or the food?" Lita joked as she stood and picked up her empty plate from the coffee table.

"Both," he told her as he did the same and then followed her into the kitchen.

"I had a feeling that you would like it," she replied as she set her plate in the sink and turned the water on. "The first one was good, but the second one is my favorite."

"I can't wait to see it," he said as he handed his plate to her.

She eyed the clock. It was only 9:00, still relatively early. "Well, if you help me knock these dishes out we may have time to squeeze in another one. Unless you'd rather call it a night."

He opened the dishwasher. "I've got nothing planned. Put me to work, chief!"

Working together, they made quick work of the few dirty dishes. Then Lita cut them each a piece of the chocolate cake that she had made the day before while Nephrite wandered back into the living room to get the next movie ready to go.

She joined him a minute later and handed him his cake. "I have some ice cream in the freezer if you want some to go with it."

He shook his head. "Nah! If this cake is half as rich as it looks, then it will be more than enough."

They ate their dessert slowly, savoring the chocolately sweetness, as they began watching their second movie.

About a half hour into the movie, Nephrite turned to Lita during a lull in the action and asked her, "So how are the feet feeling?"

She held up one bare foot and waggled her deep pink painted toenails at him. "Fine now that they are free. I do think that roller skates were designed to be instruments of torture. Who needs scout power or the Silver Crystal to get rid of enemies? I say we just put skates on anyone that threatens the Earth and then sit back and watch them self destruct."

He chuckled. "And you accuse me of having an evil streak." He grabbed both of her feet and pulled them into his lap.

Lita laughed as she turned so that she was almost lying on the couch with her feet in his lap. "I'm just grateful that no blisters developed. I thought for sure that they would after the way my feet felt when I took those skates off."

He grinned at her devilishly. "I would say that I'm sorry that I put you through that, but it wouldn't be entirely true. I had a lot of fun skating with you."

She rolled her eyes. "You mean that you had a lot of fun holding me up."

He shrugged. "However you want to look at it. I had fun."

"Yeah, me too," she admitted grudgingly. Then she moaned softly as he began massaging her feet. She felt a bit subconscious at first, wishing that she had small, dainty feet like Serena or Amy, or even normal sized ones like Raye or Mina. Maybe it was because of her height, but her feet ran slightly larger than average. They weren't the size of snow skis or anything, but they were definitely a couple of sizes bigger than any of her friends'.

But right now they looked like they were a child's feet as Nephrite's large hands practically swallowed them whole. His sheer size alone always had a way of making her feel delicate and petite when she was around him. Throwing off her insecurities, she relaxed back against the cushions as she enjoyed her unexpected foot rub. They lapsed into silence again as the movie played on.

Maybe it was the combination of having a full stomach and the comfortable moment, but Lita began to feel drowsy. Her eyelids grew heavy, even falling shut for several seconds at a time before they would flicker back open for her to gaze hazily at the TV screen.

She must have finally dozed off at one point. At least that was what she thought must have happened, because one second she had been watching a high speed car chase in the movie, and the next she was opening her eyes to find the TV turned off and Nephrite knelt down next to her as he shook her shoulder gently.

"Hey," he said softly. "It's getting late and you're obviously tired. Why don't you go to bed and get some sleep."

"Huh?" she mumbled in confusion as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. A quick glance at the clock showed her that it was a few minutes until midnight. "Oh, wow! I didn't mean to fall asleep like that."

He chuckled as he tucked some hair that had come out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Well, you have had a busy day. A good night's sleep is probably exactly what you need. So you go ahead and crawl in bed. I'll let myself out and lock up behind me."

What he was saying sounded logical, but suddenly Lita found herself wide-awake. And the last thing she wanted was to see him leave. She looked up at him through her lashes and said, "You know, you don't have to leave. You could always just stay here. I don't mind."

His expression tensed for a second, and then it softened. "No offense, sweetheart, but I think I'll pass. Your couch is comfortable, but it's really not big enough to accommodate my height. I think I'll just head home and sleep in my bed. But I'll come back first thing in the morning if you're that anxious to see me."

She pushed him aside and got up from the couch. Then she stretched, aware that her shirt rode up enough to show off a wide strip of her tanned, toned abdomen. She had been doing some thinking the past couple of days, and she figured that Mina had the right idea about things, which wasn't easy for her to admit because she usually didn't put much stock into what the vapid blonde thought. But the bottom line was that Nephrite was here, in her life, and they had a relationship. They had admitted that they loved each other and they were definitely physically attracted to one another, so why shouldn't they enjoy some of the _fringe benefits_?

Lita had never been the cowardly type. She preferred to meet things head on. So in her typical straightforward fashion she commented, "Oh well! If you're in such a hurry to leave then feel free to go ahead. But just so you know, I had no intention of making you bunk on my couch all night if you stayed. My bed my not exactly be a California king, but it's definitely big enough for two."

This time his face turned wary and stayed that way. "It's nice of you to offer, but I'm afraid that might push my self control a little further than would be safe. It's probably for the best if I go home for the night."

She shrugged. "If that's what you really want to do. But I wouldn't have asked you to share my bed unless I meant it. So if you're really not interested…" her voice trailed off suggestively.

"I never said that I wasn't interested!" he growled. "I've just been trying to respect your wishes and give you the time that you need. I don't want to push you into something before you're ready."

She let out a snort. "I would think that you know me well enough by now to know that I never let anyone push me into something that I don't want to do. I issued the invitation. Now it's up to do to decide what you want to do with it."

She waltzed past him toward her bedroom, pulling the scrunchie from her hair as she went. When she reached the end of the hall and stood in her bedroom doorway, she turned to look at him over her shoulder. "You better make up your mind about what you're going to do very quickly, general. Because I'm about to call it a night." She tossed back her loose, auburn curls and disappeared into the room.

Nephrite stood motionless, completely bewildered as he tried to decide whether to stay or go. He'd drawn a line between them after the time that he had almost lost control with her, and he'd sworn to himself that he wouldn't cross it until she was absolutely ready. Now she was offering him the opportunity to lie in bed beside her the entire night. Was she just being nice, or did this mean that she was ready to take their relationship to the next level?

He heard a quiet laugh and looked up to see that Lita had returned to her bedroom doorway. She was looking at him with a fair amount of amusement as she leaned against the frame.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" she asked him in a low tone.

He shook his head as he muttered, "No. I was just trying to figure out what you meant by asking me to stay. It didn't sound exactly like a platonic invitation to me."

Her eyes met his boldly. "I didn't mean for it to be."

"You do know what will happen if I stay, right?" he warned her.

An almost feline smirk appeared on her face. "Of course I do. I am anything but naïve, general. That's why I put the ball in your court. It's up to you to decide whether or not we both go to our respective beds like a good little boy and girl, or if we decide to make this night last a little bit longer."

Nephrite couldn't stop the grin that stretched across his face. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised at her sudden assertiveness. Her past self had been much the same. Princess Makoto had hidden a few insecurities behind a strong bravado as well. Jupiter had been a planet that was known for its unrivaled warriors and had been mostly dominated by men. But Makoto, as her mother before her, had proven herself to be the equal to any man many times over. There were very few that had seen the true her hidden inside. He had always counted himself lucky that he had been allowed to penetrate past the barriers to see the real woman that she was inside. And Lita was no different. She hadn't had the easiest of lives, and she hid behind her tough exterior. But inside there was a fragile feminine heart that begged to be released.

He took a hesitant step toward her. "I'm ready to move on if you are. I just want you to be sure that this is what you want."

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life," she told him seriously. "Just make sure you turn the lamp off before you leave or if you decide to join me." She drifted back into her room.

Nephrite wasted no time this time as he flipped the switch for the lamp and followed her. He almost ran to the bedroom, and then paused just inside as he saw Lita standing beside the bed as she turned down the covers.

She turned to look at him with a smile. "I guess your answer is yes, huh?"

He shrugged. "Well, you did say that you were serious…"

"And I meant it," she reassured him as she sat on the edge of the bed. "So are you going to kiss me, or just keep yakking?"

He was across the room in a flash, looming over her. He stared down into her dark green eyes as he growled, "I love you."

Then his lips were over hers as he bore her back onto the mattress.

* * *

"Okay! I give! I want to know how you pulled this off!"

Jadeite looked up from the beer he had been nursing for the past hour to find his girlfriend's violet eyes boring into him. "How I pulled off what?"

Those eyes rolled. "Don't try to play innocent with me, Jed! You know exactly what I'm talking about. I refuse to believe that it's coincidence that we've ended up in the places that we have tonight."

He countered back with a question of his own. "Haven't you had fun tonight?"

Raye stirred her soda with her straw. "Well, yeah. But I'm still curious. The only thing that I can think of is that one of the girls squealed on me. Who was it, the great love goddess, Mina?"

His eyes twinkled merrily as he replied, "Actually, Mina's ideas were a quite bit more…dramatic than this. Serena was the one that filled me in on the restaurant and this place."

So far the night had gone quite smoothly. He had shown up at the shrine promptly at 7:30 to find Raye ready and waiting for him in a short, swishy, lightweight summer dress of deep purple. After bidding her grandfather good evening, he had whisked her off to a small Italian restaurant that Serena had assured him was a favorite haunt of Raye's. Afterward, he had driven them to the university district where they were now seated in a comfortable lounge club that specialized in jazz and R&B music. A band of college kids were playing that night, and they sounded really good.

"I figured that it had to be one airhead blonde or the other," she muttered. "I'm not as surprised about the restaurant now. Serena knows that I have a weakness for Italian food, and she's been there with me several times. I am a little shocked that she remembered this place though. She only came here with me once. Jazz music isn't really her thing."

Jadeite chuckled. "I imagine that she probably keeps up with what's on the current top 40 pop charts."

Raye grinned. "Yeah, she does. But then again, so do I. There's not much music that I don't listen to. I like all types. Serena has developed a liking for classical music though, thanks to being around Darien and Michelle. So there may be hope for her after all."

"I guess we'll see," he agreed a little doubtfully. He had met Neo Queen Serenity during his stay in Elysian, and personally he hadn't been able to see much difference between the ruling monarch and her past teenaged self. Okay, so the future queen had looked a little older, was slightly taller, and carried herself with a bit more maturity than her younger counterpart, but the differences had been slight when compared to the similarities between them.

Nope, he didn't think Serena would change much as time moved on. In fact, everyone that he had met from the future had seemed much the same as they were now, even the fiery young woman sitting across the small table from him. And he had to admit that he took some comfort in that knowledge. Sure, Raye was explosively temperamental and could sometimes be extremely frustrating to be around, but he loved her just the way she was and wouldn't change a thing about her.

The snazzy number the band was playing came to a close and melded into a softer, slower song.

Jadeite stood up and held a hand out to Raye. "Care to dance?" he asked, cocking his head toward the dozen or so other couples dancing.

"Why not," she replied flippantly as she placed her hand in his.

"Sweet!" he crowed as he led her to the edge of the dance floor and then pulled her up close against him. "I've been waiting all night to have an excuse to feel your body against mine."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Hello, Mr. Pervert! I was wondering when you were going to put in an appearance."

He grinned roguishly. "You can deny it all you want to, sweetheart, but I know that deep inside you love my naughty side."

What he said was true, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "Yeah right, Jed! You just keep telling yourself that. Maybe someday you'll get lucky and it will actually come true."

His blue eyes clouded and his arms around her loosened as he leaned back slightly. "Would you really prefer it if I wasn't so much of a kidder? Did you actually like me better when I acted the part of a gentleman while we were at the market today?"

"No!" she blurted as her mind raced. Okay, so he could take things to the extreme sometimes, and he could _really_ annoy the hell out of her with his sly, sexual innuendoes. But that was just part of who he was, and she was willing to accept that; even if it drove her insane at times.

He didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? Because I can be a gentleman. I think I proved that to you earlier. And that's who I'll be if it makes you happy."

She shuddered at the thought. No matter how infuriating Jadeite could be, she'd much rather have the real him over the polite persona that he had put on during their bet. And, though she was loath to admit it, he made her laugh, even if she didn't always show it. And a part of her, deep inside, craved the laughter that he could give her.

Belatedly, she recalled a few fuzzy memories from her past life, serious conversations between her past self and Jadeite that had revealed that he wasn't always as happy-go-lucky as he appeared to be. Her fiery general had his doubts and insecurities about his life, just like she did about hers. But he was always careful to keep them hidden away from the rest of the world. And he hid behind his jokester attitude, much the same way as she hid behind her seriousness. She was possibly the only person that had even known the true him.

She lifted her hand to lay it against his cheek. "I don't want you to change," she told him gently. "So you might piss me off from time to time, that's just who you are. I can deal with that. But when I agreed to giving our relationship a chance I meant that I wanted the real deal, not some well performed act. And that means that I accept you as you truly are, perverted tendencies and all…okay."

His expression lightened immediately at her words. "So does that mean that you won't completely flip out if I tell you what I would really like to be doing to you right now?"

She pushed against his chest. "Don't press your luck! I can only imagine what you have going through your head."

He smirked. "At least it isn't as bad as what Mina suggested."

She snorted. "Knowing that demented little hentai, she was probably envisioning…" her sentence trailed off as a flush crept up her neck. "Never mind!"

Jadeite's expression turned devilish. "You mean that she was imagining the two of us getting hot and sweaty between the sheets."

"Jed!" Raye cried as she tried to hide her burning face.

He pulled her tightly against him once more as he murmured, "It's okay, Firefly. I promise I won't tell Venus if you decide you want to get freaky with me. And the sheets are completely optional. There are plenty of places besides a bed to get up close and personal."

Her face blazed as she glared at him. "That isn't funny!"

He didn't miss a beat as he joked back, "All right! All right! If you have your heart set on jumping me on a bed without the sheets involved we can push them to the floor. I don't mind at all. I do suggest we go back to my place though. We'd have more privacy there than we would at the shrine. We wouldn't want to take the chance of waking your grandfather by accident…would we?"

"You are incorrigible!" she snapped.

"Only with you," was his smooth reply.

Metaphoric steam poured from her ears as she pushed away from him. "We are so _not _having this conversation right now!" she demanded as she stomped away.

"Oh come on, Raye! I was joking and you know it!" he tried to cajole her as he followed her back to their table.

She paused by her chair, looking at it as if she were trying to decide whether or not to sit down again. Then she abruptly turned away. "I think it's time to call it a night. I should probably head home."

"B…but…" he sputtered helplessly as he stood by their empty table watching her walk away. When she disappeared through the front exit of the club he snapped out of his daze. He tossed a few bills on the table to cover the drinks and tip and chased after her.

He caught up to her outside where she was striding purposefully down the sidewalk, in the opposite direction from where he'd parked his car. He took her firmly, but gently, by the arm. "Raye…"

"Let go of me!" she hissed.

Her skin suddenly turned hot under his hand, but he didn't pull away. He could take the heat. "Why are you getting so pissed off? You told me to be myself, so that's what I was doing. No offense, but you're putting off some pretty confusing mixed signals. Either you want me to be me, or you don't. I just wish that you would make up your mind so I can stop feeling like yo-yo."

She tried to jerk away, but he held tight. "It's one thing to joke around in good fun, but you took it to a completely different level. For crying out loud, Jed! I felt like if I had flipped my skirt up you would have done me right there on the dance floor. I'm starting to feel like I'm nothing but a potential piece of ass to you."

His temper started simmering. "That's not how I meant it at all! You know you mean more to me than a booty call. I was just joking around and trying to get a laugh out of you. I didn't know that you would get all defensive."

Her eyes flared. "I am _not _defensive! I just don't like being made to feel like…you know what, never mind!" This time she managed to extract her arm from his grip.

He quickly grabbed it again. "No! It's not _never mind_! What were you about to say?"

She pulled against him. "It doesn't matter! Just keep in mind that I'm not some cheap bimbo that you can screw for the night whenever you feel like getting your rocks off. And it takes more than dinner and a little dancing to get me into a man's bed!"

He dropped her arm like she really had burned him as his anger spiked. "Oh really? You make it sound like you've had some experience crawling in and out of men's beds."

"You…you bastard!" she sputtered in fury as her hand arced through the air toward his face.

He caught her hand in his before it could connect with his cheek. "Don't!" he growled, furious blue sparks glittering in his eyes as they bore down into hers.

Raye quailed for a moment under the force of his anger. This wasn't the joking, fun-loving Jadeite that she knew. This was the dangerous general that had sent his enemies running with just a look. Heat was beginning to radiate off of him like it was her, and she could see the little shimmers in the air it caused.

Okay, perhaps she had overreacted to his teasing. Instead of letting what he said roll off of her, she had responded in anger, which had understandably set off his short temper as well. No surprise there. Her past life, from what she could remember, was full of confrontations with him that were just like this. She'd get mad. He'd get mad. They would yell at each other. Then after they stewed for a while they would kiss and make up. It was a repeating cycle.

But she was never the type to give in easily, and she wasn't about to let his insinuation that she made bed hopping a habit go without a word. She made her expression just as infuriated as his as she hissed, "You son of a bitch! How dare you make me out to sound like a whore!"

Jadeite felt a pang at her words. He hadn't meant for what he said to come out sounding like that, but she'd said some hurtful things as well, like assuming that he was only after her for sex. It had just been his natural instinct to respond in anger.

"I didn't mean to make you sound like a whore," he grumbled. "But you didn't have to make me out to be a horndog either. I won't insult your intelligence by denying that I don't think of you in a physical way, because we both know that would be a lie. My mouth overloads my brain most of the time, and I just say whatever pops out. You should know that about me by now. But I hope you also know that I love you for you, and not because of your body."

Then he grinned mischievously. "I just consider your sexiness to be an added feature to the whole package."

Raye took a deep breath to calm her raging emotions. If he was back to cracking jokes again, then that meant that he was ready to put the argument behind them, and she should probably do the same. With the exception of this stupid fight, which she had to admit was her fault because she let his teasing get to her; it had been an enjoyable night.

"Okay! I'll let this drop," she sighed. "But if you ever make another comment like that about me again…"

"I know! I know! I'm deep fried!" he interjected. "I'm sorry, okay. I really didn't mean it. I know you're not like that."

She smiled innocently at him. "And I know that you're not really a man-whore. You just happen to have a really big mouth."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "And I know how to use it too!" He turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand that he was still holding just a couple of inches away from his face.

"You really are hopeless," she muttered as she pulled her hand out of his.

"Nope! Just hopeful!" he cackled in reply.

She felt a blush burn its way onto her face, and she was glad that it was fairly dark where they were so he couldn't see it. Part of it was because of the horror that she felt over actually trying to slap him. Sure, she threatened him a lot and had even shot her fire at him a couple of times. That was meant purely as a warning and wasn't anything that he couldn't handle. But other than a couple of times that she had stomped on his foot she had never come close to physically harming him. She was glad that he had quick reflexes and had caught her hand before she had slapped him. She would have hated herself forever if she had actually done it.

The other reason why she was blushing was because of embarrassment. She considered herself to be fairly smart, and she was wise about the way the world worked, but the truth was that when it came to matters of a sexual nature she was completely naïve.

Okay, she wasn't completely naïve. She knew what sex was and how it was done. She did have friends, and girls liked to talk. But honestly, she had never had a boyfriend before. Hell, she had never even been kissed until she'd kissed Jadeite at that club a few nights before. By some stroke of luck she hadn't bungled that up with her inexperience.

The point was that her nun-like status was one of her most closely guarded secrets. Even Serena, the person she considered to be her best friend, had no idea she had made it to the ripe old age of seventeen before experiencing the bliss of a first kiss. She had always removed herself from the conversation when the other girls began talking about stuff like that because she felt out of place. Serena had Darien, and everyone had witnessed the two of them smooching on more than one occasion. Mina had been an actress, so there had been kisses both on and off the camera. Lita had a few ex-boyfriends lingering in her past. And even sweet, quiet Amy had had a short-lived, but very close relationship with a boy named Greg that they had met back when they were fighting the Dark Kingdom.

So yeah, when it came to love experiences with the inner scouts, she ranked at the bottom of the food chain. But she knew that something was brewing between her and Jadeite, something hot, passionate, and potentially explosive. She just had no idea how to proceed with it. She'd tried drumming up memories of her past self's relationship with him, but they were hazy and sporadic, and frankly, they usually embarrassed her more than Jadeite's suggestive comments did. Just remembering some of the things that they had done was almost enough to cause her to hyperventilate.

"Hey! Are you okay? You got really quiet all of a sudden," Jadeite's voice broke through her thoughts. "I didn't make you mad again with my teasing, did I?"

"Huh? Oh…no," she murmured as she yanked herself out of her musing. "I was just thinking."

"About me, I hope," he joked back.

"Actually, I was," she replied. "I was just wondering if I might really be a masochist deep down inside. That would explain the reason why I decided to fall for a guy that annoys me as much as you do."

"Ouch!" he cried as he flinched dramatically. Then he chuckled. "Lighten up a little, Firefly! We always knew that a relationship between us would be, um…interesting. But now that we've gotten our little spat taken care of, what do you want to do next?"

She shrugged. "It's getting late. I should probably get home and to bed. I told grandpa that I would work in the morning because Chad has something going on with his family."

"My place or yours?" he quipped as he crooked his arm toward her.

"Jadeite…" she ground out, but she threaded her arm through his.

"I was kidding!" he exclaimed as they began walking toward his car. "I wouldn't expect you to put out on the first date. I'll be a good boy and wait until the second one."

Raye felt her face flame again at the implication of a physical relationship between them. If she kept this up she was going to end being a bigger, stuttering mess than Amy at her shyest moment. And considering that even the scout of ice was off with her boyfriend in a remote cabin in the woods doing who knows what at the moment, that made her feel pretty awkward.

'_Make way for the last virgin standing!' _she thought snidely to herself. She wasn't the type to give into peer pressure, but it was hard to stand over to the side and watch all of her friends find fulfilling relationships with the men that they loved and not want that same feeling for herself. But her leery nature held her back. She had no doubt that she would eventually wind up in Jadeite's bed, but the cautiousness ingrained inside her made her hesitant to take that leap. True, her soul had known his for over a thousand years, but personally she had only known him for a handful of weeks. And, no pun intended, she was afraid of getting burned.

"Here we are," Jadeite said unoriginally as they reached his car. He opened the passenger side door and swept into a bow. "Your carriage awaits, my lady."

Raye wasn't usually the giggly type, but a tiny one escaped her in response to his antics. "Thank you, kind sir," she replied as she slid into her seat.

He rounded the front of the car and got in behind the wheel. Then he put the key in the ignition and turned it, causing the powerful engine to roar to life. But instead of putting the car into gear and driving away, he sat there with his hands on the wheel as he stared out over the dashboard. After a minute, he turned to her and said, "I'm pushing you away, aren't I?"

She blinked hard. "Huh? What do you mean?"

He sighed. "I mean with my joking and teasing. I can tell that some of the things I say embarrass you, and I don't mean for it to."

She looked down and picked at a nonexistent piece of fuzz on her skirt. "I know you don't, and I'm trying hard to not let it get to me. Don't get me wrong, I know that your attitude is part of who you are, and I don't want that to change, despite the fact that I often say otherwise. I just get caught off guard sometimes by what you say."

He nodded. "I have to keep telling myself to take it easy, that you're not the same worldly, battle hardened warrior that I knew in the past. There is an innocence around you now that your past self didn't have."

"I'm not that innocent!" she cried, bristling a little at his assessment. "And I have fought more battles in this life than I ever did in the past. I admit that I have been sort of sheltered, living at the shrine instead of dashing off to all corners of the galaxy. But I'm not stupid!"

"Get your hackles down. I never said that you were," he said in a soothing tone. "My point is that just because I act like a pervert, I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to pressure you into anything. Getting a second chance to have a relationship with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I don't want to screw it up. So I'm willing to wait and give you all the time that you need."

Raye felt tears sting her eyes. "That is probably one of the sweetest things that you've ever said to me."

He gave her a roguish grin. "I'm known to have my moments. So if you can just overlook the majority of what I say, I think we'll be okay."

She reached over and tousled his golden curls with gentle fingers. "I've been overlooking most of what you say since day one."

"Overlook this then," he drawled. "Just because I can't have the whole package yet doesn't mean that I'm not going to sample the goods." Then he pulled her over the center console to him.

"Jed!" Raye squealed with laughter as she found herself sideways on his lap, pinned between his chest and the steering wheel.

"Gotcha!" he growled triumphantly. "Now how about a kiss, sweetheart!"

She wound her fingers in his hair and pulled his head down so that his lips could meet hers.

* * *

One of the massive dogs lying on the rug in front of the cold, empty fireplace raised its head as Zoicite made his way down the staircase. A low growl rumbled in its throat.

"Oh, hush! It's just me!" Zoicite whispered harshly to the dog. He wasn't sure if it was Zephyr or Xypher, it was impossible to tell in the dark. But whichever dog it was quieted, thumped its tail once in recognition, and then settled back down on the rug.

"Well, at least everybody else around here is getting some sleep," he grumbled as he made his way into the kitchen. Light flooded the room as he opened up the refrigerator. He eyed the bottle of wine left over from dinner thoughtfully, wondering whether finishing off the last glass or so in it would help him beat the insomnia that he seemed to be suffering from tonight so that he could sleep. But in the end he bypassed it to help himself to a bottle of water instead.

Then he quietly eased open the back door and stepped out onto the large deck off the kitchen. The intense heat of the day had faded once the sun had gone down, taking the muggy stickiness with it. Now, at two in the morning, there was a refreshing breeze blowing and very little humidity. It was still very warm, especially to someone like him that preferred things to be cooler, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

It had been a long day, and honestly, he was surprised that he was still going. After John Mizuno had left and he and Amy had settled in, they had gotten back in his car and driven to a nearby town to pick up some things that they needed. Amy had clucked her tongue when she had inspected the kitchen and found nothing but frozen dinners in the freezer. Insisting that they needed real food, they had gone grocery shopping.

They had walked through the store together, him pushing the cart while she picked out ingredients to make them dinner and other things they would need while staying at her father's, just like all of the other obviously married couples that they saw in the store. And it had made it easy for him to pretend that they were just like the others, out shopping for the homes they shared together.

That happy illusion had carried him through the rest of the day. They had gone back to the house and put away the groceries. Then they had beaten the heat of the afternoon by staying inside and playing a couple of games of chess. It had been close, but Amy had managed to beat him both times.

She'd shown him her father's studio, where he had admired several paintings, his favorite one being a portrait of Amy that had been done when she was about twelve. In it she was sitting under one of the large apple trees in the back yard, reading a book as she leaned back against the trunk. The tiny painted face wore the same expression of concentration that she usually had when reading anything that interested her.

They had even roamed around the large attic for a while, digging through layers of dust to unearth things that probably hadn't been touched in years; old family photographs, outdated furniture, and even her grandmother's wedding dress.

After that, they had tumbled, dusty and dirty, from the attic where they took turns in the shower and changing into clean clothes before going downstairs where they had worked together to make a simple, but tasty dinner.

The sun had gone down by then, so they had decided to eat out at the table on the deck. Zoicite had cracked open a bottle of wine and convinced Amy to indulge in a glass or two while they lingered around the table for hours, talking about a little bit of everything. Afterward they had cleaned up and then took a stroll around the yard in the moonlight, admiring the large displays of flowers that grew in several flowerbeds.

Then, around midnight, his illusion was shattered. Amy had declared with a yawn that she was tired and going up to bed. If his fantasy world had been true, they would have been going to bed together, in the same bed. Instead he'd had to be satisfied with a simple goodnight kiss, and then watch forlornly as she'd disappeared inside her own room.

Frustrated, he'd retired to the room he had been given and thrown himself across the bed. He'd figured that if he could just go to sleep he could escape his hyperactive emotions. But after an hour of tossing and turning he'd given up and gotten out of bed to turn on his laptop. He'd checked his email, hoping that maybe he'd have some messages from his friends to occupy some time, but other than junk his mailbox was empty.

So he'd surfed around for a while and then played a few games of Solitaire before the quiet of the house started to get to him. So now, here he was, rambling around in the middle of the night, unable to sleep and wound up tight.

He stepped off the deck into the yard and headed for the stand of apple trees near the back of the fenced in area, the same spot where Amy had been sitting in the portrait he'd seen of her earlier. He sat down beneath one of the trees and took a long sip of his water as he stared at the dark house; more specifically, at the window to Amy's room.

He wondered, briefly, whether or not she was awake as well. But he quickly decided that she probably wasn't. Amy was much too sensible to allow her emotions to work her up into such a state that she would be unable to sleep. She was probably curled up in bed right now, enjoying a deep slumber and peaceful dreams. He could find out easily enough by reaching out through their soul bond, but he didn't want to take the chance in case she was awake. The bond between them had been a touchy subject for her, and she had asked him not to use it for now, so the last thing needed was for her to sense him cheating. It could lead to uncomfortable questions. He had stood outside her bedroom door for a few minutes before he had come down, and all had been quiet.

He looked up at the sky and at the thousands of stars twinkling there. _'This is just the kind of night Nephrite would like,'_ he thought to himself. Perhaps he should encourage his friend to get out of the city for a night. Out in a place like this, away from the bright city lights, he bet the stars would be almost screaming to be heard.

Then he glanced at the half-full moon and thought about how much times had changed. In the past, he had been on Earth while Ami had spent most of her time on the moon. On many nights, either he had snuck to the moon to see her, or she had come down to visit him. But those times were dangerous, and it would have meant huge trouble if they had been caught together, so their meetings rarely ever lasted more than an hour or so. At the end, they had to return to their own place. But now they both lived on Earth, and neither one of them had to say goodbye and leave the planet again.

A soft click drew his attention to the house once more, and he started when he looked and saw Amy slipping out the back door, wearing a short white robe made of some thin, flimsy material. It fluttered around her thighs as she left the deck and started across the yard.

At first, Zoicite thought that he was her destination, that she had known that he was awake and out there and was coming to talk to him. But then she veered toward the other side of the yard as she reached the back and disappeared through a back gate there.

Zoicite scrambled to his feet, feeling a little concerned at first. Where was she going? Was she sleepwalking? But she hadn't moved like she was sleepwalking. She had looked like she knew exactly where she was going. But why would Amy be heading into the woods in the middle of the night? It was very strange.

He told himself that he shouldn't follow her, but in the end curiosity and concern for her safety won out and he went through the gate after her. Luckily the moon and stars gave off enough light to keep everything from being completely dark, and he was able to keep her blue head in sight as he followed her down a narrow trail through the trees.

She didn't go too far, only about 100 yards or so in, before she vanished between two trees. Feeling a little apprehensive about letting her out of his sight, Zoicite picked up the pace to catch up to her. But when he reached the spot where she had disappeared, he froze.

The trees opened up into a wide clearing. And in the middle of this clearing was a pool of crystal clear water. There was a tiny waterfall, more like a fast trickle really, that flowed into it from an outcropping of rocks about fifteen feet high.

Amy stood beside the pool. She'd already kicked off the shoes she'd been wearing and was now loosening the tie on her robe. When she got it undone she slipped the garment from her shoulders and let it fall to the ground.

Zoicite's breath almost strangled him as he took in the sight of her. Sure, he'd seen her in her bathing suit before, but that modest little dark blue one-piece looked like a nun's habit compared to the ice-blue bikini she was wearing now. Most people who didn't know Amy well would assume that since she was such a bookworm that her small frame would be delicate and bird-like, but nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, she was slender, but her scout training and duties had toned her body nicely…very nicely.

Zoicite felt like he needed to wipe drool from his chin as he drank in the sight of curves that he had known existed, but hadn't dared to let himself dream about. Damn! He should have listened to the voice of reason that had told him not to follow her. Now he was frustrated and turned on instead of just being frustrated alone. Sleep was definitely out of the question for him now tonight, and probably every night for at least the next six months! There was no way that any red blooded man alive could sleep with visions of a woman like that running through his mind. If he were smart he would turn around and leave now before the torture got worse.

And he was a smart man. But even geniuses had been known to have moments where their brains decided to take an unexpected vacation. And in just a few seconds, Zoicite's brain had packed its bags and hopped on the first flight to the Bahamas without even saying _bon voyage_, leaving him rooted to the spot and gaping like an idiot as Amy dove into the pool.

A small amount of sanity returned to him a few seconds later when she broke through the surface of the water and tossed her head back to send shining droplets flying everywhere. He felt like a stalker, or at least like an obsessed Peeping Tom, watching her through the trees like this without her knowing. The gentleman inside him demanded that he do one of two things, either step forward and make his presence known, or leave her to enjoy her swim in peace.

As he watched her gliding languidly through the water, he decided that the latter looked like the better option. She seemed to be fine and was having fun taking her middle of the night dip. And obviously she had wanted to come alone because she hadn't mentioned anything about this place to him when she had been describing the area, so he didn't want to intrude. He also seriously doubted that she was in any danger here, unless the chipmunks that he had heard chattering in the trees all day suddenly decided to unite and run her off.

So he began to back away slowly. And then, of course, the inevitable happened. Just like a predictable scene from a poorly written, low budget movie, he stepped on a twig that snapped with a _CRACK _loud enough to probably be heard ten miles away.

Everything fell silent. No crickets chirped. No owls hooted. Even the wind died so that the leaves wouldn't rustle.

Then there were a few tiny splashes, and Amy called out, "Zoi, is that you?"

_BUSTED! _He had no choice now but to let her know that he was there. If he didn't, she would think that there was something big lurking in the woods. And he didn't want to frighten her.

So he pasted a sheepish grin on his face, shoved his hands into the pockets of the cargo shorts he was wearing, and stepped out from the shadows of the trees. "Yeah, it's me."

She had swum over to the edge of the pool and had her arms resting on the natural stone ledge. She beamed him a brilliant smile. "Thank goodness! For a second there I thought Sasquatch was on the loose. What are you doing out here? I figured that you were asleep by now."

He shook his head. "Nah! I couldn't sleep, so I'd gotten up to take a walk outside. I was in the yard when I saw you leave. I got curious so…" his voice trailed off in embarrassment.

"So you thought that you would follow me and see what I was up to," she finished for him. Then she laughed. "Well, I guess you found my secret place. I was going to bring you here tomorrow. Actually, it already is tomorrow. Whatever! The point is I thought you might like it here. The water that feeds into this pool comes from a stream that originated up in the mountains, so the water is really cool, even on the hottest days. I thought it might be a good place to come beat the heat."

Amused, Zoicite arched a brow at her. "And that explains why you're out here swimming in the middle of the night…how?"

She waved a careless hand. "Oh, I've been doing this for years. Whenever I come here and the weather's decent anyway. There's just something soothing about being in the cool water, under the night sky, with the moonlight shining down on me. I've never been able to explain it. It just feels…familiar for some reason."

Zoicite felt every bit of saliva in his mouth disappear, leaving it as dry as a desert. He knew exactly why she liked swimming at night, even if she didn't remember it. His memories of the past were dull and hazy at some points, but some of the ones that stood out the most in his mind were ones of the nights when he and Ami would meet here on Earth at a small hunting cabin in the mountains that had been owned by his father. There had been a creek that flowed behind it that they had spent hours in, swimming, frolicking together, and often even making love in the water when they hadn't quite been able to make it back to the bank.

"So, did you want to join me?" Amy asked him suddenly as she pushed away from the ledge to drift backward in the water.

"Um…what?" he asked, certain that he had misunderstood her.

A light laugh huffed past her lips. "I asked you if you wanted to take a swim," she repeated as she began to swim in lazy circles. "It's a simple yes or no question, doctor."

He eyed the water dubiously. "I don't think so. I'm not exactly dressed for swimming." There was also the tiny little problem of the fact that he knew…he just knew that if he got into that water with her that he would never be able to keep his hands to himself.

Amy pouted, she actually pouted, at him as she stretched out to float on her back. "Who cares what you're wearing? So your clothes will get wet. It's no big deal. We'll just throw them in the wash when we get back to the house. I just thought it would be nice to have some company while I swim."

She looked so adorable that he couldn't deny her completely. "I'll make a compromise with you if you want company that much." He kicked off his shoes and sat down on the edge of the pool to let his legs dangle down into the water. "Wow! You were right. This water is nice and cool."

She flipped over and swam to him to prop her arms on his knees. "It would feel even better if you actually got all the way in. Unless you think it's too cold for you."

He snorted, both at the absurdness of her comment and to also cover up the nervousness that her sudden closeness and touching him stirred up. He was careful to keep his attention on her face and not let his eyes stray down to where her…um…_womanly assets_…were peeking through the surface of the water. "Are you trying to taunt me into jumping into this pool?"

She sniffed disdainfully. "I'm just trying to make you loosen up a bit. I was under the impression that you used to like taking nighttime swims."

"You…you remember that?" he sputtered. Deep inside he really hoped she didn't. He wouldn't trade a moment of the time that he had spent with Ami for anything in the world, but now that she had been reincarnated into Amy he didn't want the ghost of the past looming over them as they built a new relationship together.

Her chin brushed his knees as she shook her head. "Not exactly. I just have a fuzzy memory of you saying that to me once. We were swimming in what looked like a mountain creek. I don't really recall much more than that."

He heaved a grateful sigh. Thank goodness for small favors.

She looked up at him curiously, her blue eyes reflecting the moonlight. "What was that sigh for? You sound like you're happy that I don't remember more."

He smiled gently as reached down to flick back some of her dripping wet bangs from her forehead. "In a way I am. I mean, I'm glad that you remember some things, like the fact that we were ever even together. It would suck if you didn't at least remember that."

"Is that your professional opinion, doctor?" Amy asked him with an impish smile. "You make it sound like there are some deep, dark secrets between you and my past self that you don't want me to know about."

"It's nothing like that," he denied quickly. "It's just…" he blew out a frustrated breath. "Amy, I don't know how much you do remember, but Ami and I…we had a very close relationship."

"I know that," she responded instantly. "I might not remember quite as much as you do, and I may not be exactly the same person now that I was back then, but I don't think that I am so much different from my past self that I don't have an idea about the thoughts that she had. She would have never allowed herself to get involved in an intimate relationship with you if she hadn't loved you deeply. She and I are very much alike in that respect. I also understand what you were trying to say. I don't want the ghost of Ami influencing our relationship any more than you do. Maybe someday we'll remember more about the past, but for now I want to concentrate on what we are building between us."

She pushed away from him and swam back a few feet. "But think about this, Zoicite. You _are _letting Ami get in between us if you're refusing to take a nighttime swim with me based solely on the fact that it reminds you of times with her."

"It's not that!" he growled. "This has to do with…don't worry about it."

"How vague," she snorted in reply. Then she swam to the opposite side of the pool where she hoisted herself out to stand on the ledge. "You know what I think your problem is?" she asked him then.

"What's that?" he answered as he balled his hands up into fists to resist the urge he had to run over to her and pull her wet body into his arms. He was also careful to keep his eyes slightly averted from her so that he wouldn't have to watch the rivulets of water running down her skin. His already strained nerves stretched even tauter.

She tossed him a defiant look before snapping in a tone that he had never heard from her, at least in this life, "I think you're too scared to come near me because you're afraid you might actually be tempted to make love to me!" Then she dove headfirst into the pool, hard.

The breath whooshed out of his lungs, and it wasn't because of the spray of water that slapped him in the face. Where on Earth had that come from? "What are you talking about?" he demanded as she burst through the water in the center of the pool a few seconds later.

She looked like an angry water nymph indeed as she tossed back at him, "You're a smart boy! I'm sure you can figure it out! But I'm tired of feeling teased!"

Poor Zoicite! He was so confused at this point that he didn't know exactly what to think. Was this the mysterious female psyche that he often heard Jadeite, Kunzite, Darien, and Nephrite complain about? He had some past experience with dealing with an angry Sailor Mercury, and he had witnessed a few moments of irritation in Amy since he had met her in this life, but she'd always had a valid reason for letting her cool demeanor slip before. This time, however, he was having a hard time figuring her out.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation. "What do you mean, _feeling teased_? I'm afraid I'm not following you."

A low growl rumbled in her throat as she launched herself back to the side of the pool and climbed out again. Then she stomped over to where her robe was lying on the ground a few feet away from him and snatched it up. She held it in front of her, clutched tightly to her chest, as she stared at him with brighter than usual eyes. Was she about to cry?

But her voice only shook slightly as she said, "I guess Raye, Lita, and the others were right all along. Men can be so obtuse sometimes. I thought you might be the one exception to that. But I guess I was wrong."

He scrambled to his feet. "Well perhaps I wouldn't be so obtuse if you would tell me exactly what you are thinking." He knew that he could figure out what was bothering her in about two seconds by using their soul bond, but he resisted the urge to do that. Amy already seemed to be upset enough as it was, and he didn't want to set her off even worse by invading her privacy after he'd promised her that he wouldn't.

The air around them dropped several degrees in just a few seconds and goosebumps broke out up and down her arms. After several moments though, she sighed and shook her head as the temperature returned to normal. "You're right. I'm being completely irrational about this. It's not like you are a mind reader. I should have explained myself calmly instead of loosing my temper. It was very childish of me."

Zoicite couldn't help but chuckle. "It wasn't childish. Everyone is entitled to get frustrated and angry from time to time. It's all part of being human. But it would be helpful if you told me what's on your mind."

She nodded. "Okay. We've been seeing each other for about a month now, right?"

He thought back quickly. "Yes. Give or take a few days anyway."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "And in that time I feel that we have grown extremely close very quickly. Of course we had the added advantage of already knowing a lot about each other from the beginning. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah?" he agreed a little hesitantly, not entirely sure where she was going with this. "We did seem to skip over the awkward early dating stage that some couples have to endure."

She nodded again, this time more vigorously. "Exactly! We were comfortable with each other from the very beginning. And in the past couple of weeks I feel like we've only grown closer."

He snickered. "Well we have been spending almost every waking moment together for the past month."

She rolled her eyes. "Would you let me finish what I was trying to say?" She waited until he held his hands up in apology before continuing. "Anyway, as I was saying. For about the past two weeks I've been feeling like we were at a crossroads in our relationship, right at the edge of taking what's between us to the next level. But it seems that every time we try to become…um…"

"Intimate?" Zoicite supplied, thinking he was being helpful.

Amy's cheeks flushed a deep, brilliant red. Now that her temper had cooled down she didn't seem to be as bold as she had earlier. "Yes, intimate. Every time we are, somebody or something comes along and interrupts us. That's why I was so happy when you agreed to come here with me. I thought that finally we would have some time alone where no one would bother us. But you have barely touched me since we've been here, and it makes me confused. It even makes me wonder if you love me as much as you say you do." She chewed her bottom lip as she let her eyes fall to the ground.

To say that Zoicite was startled by her confession would be an understatement. He had spent the day being nothing but polite and attentive to his girlfriend, or so he'd thought. It was true that he had held himself at a slight physical distance from her, but that had only been as a precaution to keep his own emotions under control. In his eyes, Amy was delicate and gentle, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her. But he had never meant for his actions to make her feel neglected or insecure.

Quick as a wink, he was in front of her, pulling her into his arms to hug her tightly. "Oh, Amy! I'm sorry. I didn't think that my behavior would make you feel like this."

She tilted her head back to look up at him, her expression once again annoyed. "So you admit that you've been distancing yourself from me on purpose."

"Yes. But not for the reasons you think," he told her quickly. "I know that things have moved fast between us, and I didn't want you to feel pressured into furthering our relationship before you were ready. But I must admit that being close to you is a…temptation. So I was just implementing some safety precautions."

Her brows shot up almost to her hairline. "Safety precautions? Are you serious? Do you honestly think that if I wasn't comfortable with being physically intimate with you that I would have let you go as far as we have recently? Even you have to admit that we've gone slightly farther than just making out. And we would have kept going if somebody wasn't always knocking on the door or calling us."

She was steadily working herself up into another rant. "And if I wasn't comfortable with being alone with you I certainly wouldn't have invited you to come here with me where we would be the only people for miles around. Furthermore, smart guy, although I've had fun with you today, I didn't ask you here just so we could explore attics and play chess! I may not be as blatantly sensual as someone like Mina, but I thought for sure that I had thrown out enough hints that you would be able to pick up on what I was trying to say!"

Comprehension whirled to life in Zoicite's head and he felt like laughing, but he didn't dare. So his little ice sprite had been suffering from the same frustrations that he had been, had she?

He couldn't stop a tiny chuckle from rumbling in his chest. "So this whole trip has been part of some grand seduction?"

Her face flamed again as she muttered, "Not exactly. I just thought that if we were here alone that things would just…naturally happen." Then she buried her face in his chest, causing a wet patch to spread on his shirt from the water still dripping from her hair.

His heart pounded a fast a furious rhythm. She wanted him! She was willing to make the ultimate commitment to him! But before he allowed the euphoria he felt spread through him, he had to make certain that she was sure.

He set her back a step and put his fingers under her chin to lift her face so her eyes would meet his. "You do understand what this will mean between us, don't you? Once I make you mine, I will never be willing to let you go."

"I would never want you to," she whispered back before going up on her tiptoes to kiss his lips softly. Then she pulled back with a smirk. "And if you try to send me off to bed alone again with nothing more than a kiss on the cheek like you did earlier, I'll freeze you in a chunk of ice so thick that neither Raye nor Jed will be able to melt you out. Now how about that swim, general?"

"Whatever my lady wants," he replied smoothly as he reached to pull his t-shirt over his head. "I never knew that you could have such a vindictive streak in you."

She laughed. "There are probably a few things that you don't know about me. But you'll learn." Then she dropped her robe and ran to dive back into the pool.

As she was submerged underwater, she giggled, causing air bubbles to burst from her mouth. Okay, so things hadn't gone quite as smoothly as she'd planned, but it had all worked out right in the end. Nothing short of torture would ever get her to admit that she had lured Zoicite here on purpose.

She had been lying in her bed, wide-awake and fuming over the fact that she had been sent off to bed by her boyfriend, like she was child, with nothing more than a kiss on the cheek like a man would give to a little sister. Then she'd heard a shuffling noise outside her door and knew that Zoicite was there. She'd held her breath in anticipation, thinking that he might come to her. But a few minutes later she'd heard him head down the stairs. She'd finally gotten curious and gotten up to look out the window, and had seen him go sit under the apple trees at the back of the yard.

That was when an idea had hatched in her head. She hadn't planned on visiting her swimming spot until the next day, but she had decided that now was just as good of a time as any. She'd rummaged through her suitcase, bypassing her usual one piece bathing suit in favor of the ice blue bikini that Mina had talked her into buying when they had gone swimsuit shopping at the beginning of summer and had never worn. (She made a mental note to herself to thank Serena when she got home for her advice on packing it, although she was still confused as to why her friend and princess had seemed so amused when she made the suggestion.)

Anyhow, she had put on the bikini and thrown her short silk robe on over it before making her way downstairs and outside. Then she had walked right past Zoicite, acting like she didn't know he was there, to make her way toward her secret swimming hole. The whole time she had prayed that his curiosity would get the better of him so that he would follow her. She'd felt his eyes watching her as she'd disrobed by the pool and had taken the time to stand there for a moment and let him have a good look at what he was missing before she'd jumped in. It had been completely uncharacteristic of her to do so, but underneath her bookish exterior she a normal, warm-blooded woman. And her poor doctor had seemed so clueless about the vibes that she had been trying to send out that she had decided to resort to old-fashioned feminine flaunting, and it had paid off.

She returned to the surface and was wiping the water from her eyes when she felt the water around her swirl and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She blinked the remaining droplets from her lashes and looked up into a pair of laughing, bright green eyes.

"You were down there a long time. This pool must be pretty deep," Zoicite chuckled.

She nodded. "It is; especially toward the center. It drops off straight down about two feet in from the sides. That's why it's safe to dive into. There's no chance of hitting the bottom."

Then his mouth was right next to her ear as he whispered, "And just how deep does it go?"

She wound her arms around his neck and murmured, "Why don't we find out?"

As their lips hungrily came together, they slowly sank beneath the surface.

* * *

**A/N **So that's all I have for now. Everybody is coming together and, um…hooking up I guess you could say. I'll try to get another update out as soon as I can, but for now I'm turning my attention to _Rekindled_ because it is now officially the most neglected of my babies. Plus I feel like taking a walk on the dark side for a while. I do want to take a moment to thank everyone that had checked out my new Facebook page and befriended me. I was shocked and thrilled at the response I've gotten so far. So if you get a chance to check it out, then feel free to. And if you want to, friend me. I'm listed under Serenity Shields, or just put in Serenitythestoryteller(at)yahoo(dot)com. But don't let that stop you from leaving me a review here to tell me what you thought. Those are still my bread and butter. Be safe guys! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	21. The First Goodbye

**A/N **I know, it's a miracle! I'm actually updating this. Really, I've been spending quite a bit of time on this story in particular because I want to get it finished before _GT _is done. That way when the final chapter of _GT _goes up the entire _Lunar Princess _trilogy will be complete…at least until I start the one shots. But those will all take place in the future, so I want everything dealing with the present to be wrapped up neatly. Okay, fairly long update here, so let me get those hugs out of the way so you can move on. BIG HUGS TO:

**saveme57**

**Angelstar14**

**GoldenDragon326**

**little princess of mercury**

**JuliaGulia17**

**Usagi Carter**

**unlockurdestiny**

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**sabina21**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**Wonderwomanbatmanfan**

**KageNoNeko**

**Seredhiel05**

**TheMoonPrincess110**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**nickybluejess**

**Tiny2008**

**wannabe kairi**

**Ms. Fairweather**

**KoiGirlPGSM**

**Maira**

**44musicfreak44**

**Robyn**

A million, billion, trillion thank yous as always. You guys are the best! And now on with the story. I do apologize in advance for any glaring editing errors. My allergies have been kicking my butt and the meds I have to take make me a little fuzzy headed. But I tried my best. :P

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 20

The First Goodbye

* * *

Serena looked up over the edge of the funny paper that she had stolen from Darien's morning newspaper to frown at her dark haired boyfriend. "Hey, Dare! Do you think Drew is happy being with Rita?"

Darien sighed as he lowered the paper he was reading to look at her. "Are you still worrying about last night?"

She nodded as she laid the funny paper over to the side and then scooted around on the couch to lay her head on his shoulder. "I'm really worried about him. You saw how he was last night. He was all smiles and laughs until he got that phone call from Rita. After that he got quiet. And then he left after the first movie was over instead of staying for the second one. I just got a weird vibe."

"Serena!" Darien groaned. "Don't be a Mina and start meddling in other people's relationships. So Drew and Rita are suffering from a little stress right now. I'm sure it will blow over once she gets back here. They've been together for a long time. They'll work it out…Did you say something, Rini?"

The pink haired teen currently sprawled out on the living room carpet looked up with an expression that was as bland as plain toast. "Who…me? Nope! I didn't say a word!" Then she turned her attention back to the television and the anime that she was watching.

Serena's eyes cut to the screen. "Inuyasha? Since when did you start watching that? You used to gripe at me when I watched it and said that it was a stupid show."

Maroon eyes rolled at her. "Well maybe my tastes have changed over the years! One of my friends happens to be a huge fan of Inuyasha, and she's taught me how to appreciate the storyline. So consider it a compliment, Meatball Head. You actually have good taste in something for a change."

"Why you little…" Serena began to growl.

"So what do you lovely ladies want to do today?" Darien inserted smoothly, cutting off the Serena-Rini war of words before it could get started. He gave himself a mental pat on the back when both girls fell silent and thoughtful.

"Hmm…" Serena mused after a moment. "That's a hard one to call. I would say let's go see a movie, but there's nothing good playing right now. And I really don't feel like going bowling."

Rini's nose wrinkled up. "Unh uh! Me neither. Can we go swimming at Mina's?"

Serena shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. If that's really what you want to do. I figured you would've gotten sick of swimming by now though. You've barely even been here a week, and we've gone swimming several times."

"No way!" Rini replied with a shake of her head. "I love to swim. Besides, it's too hot out to do much of anything else. And all of the indoor activities sound boring."

"We could go to a museum," Darien supplied in a helpful tone.

"I rest my case," Rini sighed as both she and Serena turned to look at Darien like he had just started spouting gibberish.

"What?" he asked, looking completely clueless.

Serena shook her head and gave him a patronizing look. "Sweetie, think carefully about what you just said. Would you really want to take Rini and I into a _museum_."

He reached over and pulled lightly on one of her golden pigtails. "I was just _teasing_. Believe me, I know better than do something insane like that. You two would be bored to tears inside of three minutes, and then you would probably get us kicked out because neither one of you seem to understand the meaning of _indoor voices_."

"Rini, darling," Serena began in a sugary sweet voice. "I do believe someone thinks he's being _funny _at _our _expense. What do you think we should do about that?"

Rini tossed one of her pink hair streamers over her shoulder with a haughty sniff. "Find a good place to hide his body once we've hacked him into little pieces?"

"Hmm…" Serena hummed, tapping her chin. "That's a little too bloodthirsty for my taste. Not to mention that it would be hazardous to your existence if we take him out of the game this early. Perhaps something a bit less brutal."

Darien felt apprehension skitter down his spine as future mother and daughter shared a silent look between them that seemed to speak volumes. He gulped. "Hey! Don't I get a say in this?"

"No!" both of his Meatball Heads snapped back at him. Then, just as he was about to bolt from his seat, they both screeched, "Let's torture him!" and took flying leaps at him, tackling him onto his back on the sofa as they began ruthlessly tickling him.

He responded in kind, getting in a few good tickles himself when the opportunity presented itself. In just a few minutes all three of them were short of breath as they gasped with laughter and sprawled out across the plush living room carpet.

"I guess I better call Mina and make sure it's okay if we use the pool," Serena said when her breathing had somewhat returned to normal. "I wouldn't want to interrupt anything if she and Kunzite have plans to use it themselves today."

"Hmph! That's never stopped you before," Darien snickered as he sat up and shot her a teasing grin.

"Thhbbb!" Serena blew a raspberry at him as she nimbly rolled to her feet and skipped off toward his bedroom where her cell phone was.

She scooped the tiny silver phone up and began paging through her contact list, murmuring to herself, "Amara, Amy, Dad, Darien, Hotaru…Geez! I never realized that I had so many numbers in my phone…Jadeite, Kunzite, Lita, Melvin…Wow! What am I doing with his number?…Michelle…Ah! Mina!" She pressed the call button.

The phone rang twice before a dejected sounding voice answered. "Hello."

"Mina?" she asked quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Serena!" Mina gushed. "I am so glad to hear your voice. I was going to call you, but I figured that you were probably busy with Darien and Rini. I am soooo bored! Kunzite had to go meet a potential client for lunch, so I'm all alone. Everybody has been so busy lately with their own lives that I didn't want to push myself on them, but now I feel depressed and lonely. Maybe I should ask my dad if he would pay for me to hire a full time pool guy. At least then I would have somebody to talk to while I just sit here and waste away. And I'd have to make sure he was cute so I could enjoy looking at him."

Serena choked on a laugh. "You're horrible!"

But Mina wasn't fazed. "Hey! What can I say? A girl like me is used to having at least a little bit of company and attention. Even Artemis has bailed on me. He was very vague about where he was going, saying that he had some _stuff _to take care of, but I know what that really means. He and Luna must have had plans. I wish the two of them would quit sneaking around behind our backs. It's not like we don't already know that they are going to hook up eventually. We have met Diana after all. But they are both so stubborn sometimes that it makes me want to pinch their furry little heads off! Who do they think they're fooling? I am a descendant of Aphrodite. I know when something is brewing, and there is definitely something going on between those two. They can try to hide it from me all they want to, but I can tell."

Serena giggled as her extremely vocal friend finally ran out of air. "Well, I may not be a hunky pool guy, but how would you like to have some company? Darien, Rini, and I are going stir crazy sitting around here, and it's so hot out that we thought a swim sounded good. So what do you say?"

"Oh god yes!" Mina exclaimed. "I would be willing to go up against every enemy that we've ever faced, by myself, just to have some human companionship right about now. Get your butts in gear and get over here."

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Serena promised.

"Well don't take all day," Mina complained. "I know how long it can take you to get ready to go somewhere sometimes."

"I'm sticking my tongue out at you, Mina," Serena declared as she poked her pink tongue out at the phone. Then she laughed. "We'll be there soon, okay?"

"You better be," Mina growled. "Now get moving!"

Serena was still chuckling as she ended the call with her friend. "That Mina! What am I going to do with her?"

She tossed the phone onto the bed before skipping back down the hall. "Hey Darien…Rini…Mina said…"

Her words turned into a shriek as pink light exploded just as she stepped into the living room. There was a burst of smoke above her head, and she scrambled out of the way as a decent sized black ball appeared and almost brained her.

"What the…!"

Darien and Rini both jumped to their feet at her cry, but it was Rini who figured out what was going on first.

"Luna P?" she said in a confused voice. "What in the world are you doing here?"

The light on top of the cat-head shaped toy began blinking at the sound of her voice and it turned to float to her, it's computerized voice beeping, "Small Lady…Small Lady…"

"How weird," Rini murmured as it landed in her hands. "I haven't messed with this thing in forever. In fact, it's been collecting dust on a shelf in my room for probably a good two years now. Mom or someone must have reactivated it."

"Wow!" Serena breathed. "I haven't seen Luna P in so long that I almost forgot it even existed. You used to be practically joined at the hip with it, Rini."

Darien chuckled. "You sure were. You never went anywhere without it. Wherever you went, it followed."

Rini nodded. "I know. Luna P has bailed me out of more scrapes than I can count. But then one day it was strange. I got up and decided that it wasn't important to have it trailing around after me anymore."

"It's called growing up," Serena replied in a soft voice. "I used to be the same way when I was younger. I had a stuffed bunny that I used to drag everywhere with me, even to school. I refused to go anywhere without it for years. But I eventually outgrew that phase and began leaving it at home." Then she smiled sheepishly. "I still keep it on my bed though."

Rini rolled her eyes at her. "Why am I not surprised? Oh well! There has to be a reason why Luna P was sent here. Somebody must be trying to send me a message."

She pressed Luna P's nose, and sure enough a small white envelope popped out from a narrow slot beneath the painted on mouth. She took the letter, leaving her old toy to float in mid-air, and crossed over to Darien's desk, where she used a letter opener to carefully slit the envelope open.

She pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and began reading, her lips moving silently as she did. As the moments passed her eyes grew wider and wider.

Serena felt a stab of concern. "What's wrong, Rini? It's not bad news from home, is it?"

Rini looked up with large shining eyes. "No, it's not bad news at all. In fact, it's great news. Read for yourself."

Serena took the letter that was handed to her, and she and Darien pressed their heads together as they both read. She jolted a bit in shock when her own handwriting jumped off the page at her.

_My Dearest Rini – I hope that you have been enjoying your little vacation into the past. I know that this isn't the way that you had originally planned to spend this week, and I'm sorry that work interfered with our plans. In any case, I sincerely hope that you have been having fun in Tokyo and that you haven't been giving Serena and Darien too hard of a time._

Serena looked up from the paper with a snort. "I don't guess you've been too bad…this time. At least you haven't been since you finally decided to stop acting like such a brat. You were hell on wheels when you first got here."

Rini's snort matched hers. "Whatever you say, Meatball Head. Now give me my letter back."

"Wait a minute. I'm not done yet," Serena protested, turning her attention back to the paper.

_Now for the good news. Your daddy and I managed to get our business taken care of quicker than we expected, and the scouts have promised that they can handle any problems that may come up, so I think that we are finally ready to take that vacation that we have been planning. We won't be leaving for a couple of days though, so you can stay in the past a bit longer if you want to. Just be sure to be home on Monday if you don't want to be left behind. Your daddy and I both send you our love, and we hope to see you soon. – Love, Mom XOXO_

"That is way weird to be reading a letter written by my future self," Serena muttered.

Darien laughed. "I find it amusing that, even in the future, you still write in those enormous bubble letters. You take up a whole line just to write two words. And don't get me started on the x's and o's. I think you're frozen in time at sixteen instead of twenty two."

She gave him a scathing look. "At least my handwriting is legible. It takes me forever to make out your scribbling. No wonder you want to become a doctor. You already write like one."

He gave her a grin. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Stop the flirting already! I'm going to hurl if you two get any sweeter," Rini complained. "Can I have my letter back now?"

"Oh, sure," Serena answered as she handed the pages back to her. "So when are you going back, Rini? Did you want to leave now?"

Pink pigtails swished in a negative reply. "No way! Mom said to be home on Monday, which means we must be leaving Tuesday morning. I already have my bags packed from before, so there isn't much for me to get ready. So I think I'll stick around here for a while. It's much better than hanging around the palace and being annoyed by my…well, being annoyed by people."

"Don't you have any friends at home?" Serena asked her.

She shrugged. "Sure. I have a ton of friends. And some of us are pretty tight. But I see them all the time at home. It's rare that I get to come back here and visit, so I take advantage of it when I can. It's nice to be a normal girl instead of a princess."

Serena beamed a smile at her. "Well, _normal girl_, go get your swim stuff together if you still want to go. Mina's crawling the walls with boredom and told us to hurry up and get there."

* * *

"Don't add too much of the flour mixture all at once, or it will make it hard to mix," Lita cautioned Nephrite.

He looked up from where he was standing at the island in the center of the penthouse's kitchen and arched a mahogany brow at her. "Cookies may not be my specialty, but I think I know enough to be able to handle mixing up this dough."

She gave him a skeptical look. "That's what you say now. But from where I'm standing it looks like most of it is ending up on you."

A hot gleam entered his eyes. "If I get too messy then you can just lick it off of me. And if I get really messy I'll go take a shower and you can join me like you did this morning." He leaned across the counter toward her and said huskily, "My shower is much bigger than the one at your apartment. We would have plenty of room to have fun."

She shoved his face away, but laughed. "Have you been taking pointers from Jadeite? That sounds suspiciously like something that depraved lunatic would say."

"Depraved lunatic? You must be talking about yours truly!" Jadeite's voice trilled as he breezed into the kitchen. He swept into a low bow before grinning at Lita. "When are you going to stop wasting your time on this emo loser and find yourself a real man? I could give you some pointers if you need them."

The bowl in Nephrite's hands thunked heavily against the countertop as he set it down hard. "Emo? Let me tell you something, Smokey…"

"Whoa! No fighting in the kitchen!" Lita broke in on them. "If you two girls want to finish your bitch-fest, then take it somewhere else. I've got cookies I'm trying to bake plus a couple of cakes I want to try. So I don't need you getting in my way."

Jadeite stumbled back and raised his hands dramatically. "No! Not the glare of death! I'm sorry to have angered you, mighty Jupiter. I promise I won't do it again. Please, have mercy on me! I'll be as quiet as a church mouse from now on."

Lita burst out laughing and turned to Nephrite. "He's really not right in the head, is he?"

He rolled his slate blue eyes. "I've been saying it for years, but nobody ever listens to me. He fell out of the hayloft of the palace stable once when we were kids and hit his head pretty hard. I think it scrambled his brains."

"Ha ha!" Jadeite replied blandly as he walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a Dr. Pepper. "My brain is just fine, thank you very much. But at least I have a valid excuse to play off of whenever people accuse me of being an idiot. That's more than I can say for you. Everyone just thinks that you are naturally moronic."

Nephrite pointed his giant spoon at him. "You're cruisin' for a bruisin' pal."

"Damn!" Lita muttered as she rescued the bowl of cookie dough before it became an unwilling sacrifice in the testosterone war that was currently being waged. "I never thought that I would meet two people that love to bicker more than Serena and Raye, but I think I just might have found them. You two could probably give them a run for their money on their best day."

Jadeite waved a casual hand. "Ah, it's all in good fun. Engaging in verbal sparring is a great way to keep your mind sharp. Isn't that right, Nephie-poo?"

Nephrite growled. "Does anyone think that the authorities would really care if I killed him? After all, he's just an annoying pain in the ass."

"Hell, they'd probably give you a medal for it," Lita teased.

Jadeite clutched his chest. "Ouch! That hit me right in my tender spot!"

"I'm going to hit you in a much more tender spot if you don't knock it off," Nephrite threatened. "Let's see if your fiery Raye still wants to have anything to do with you once you've been completely emasculated."

"Ooo, I just felt a shiver. Was that fear?" Jadeite tilted his head to the side thoughtfully for a moment. "Nope! It must have just been a chill from the air conditioning."

"You two crack me up!" Lita howled.

"I always aim to please," Jadeite quipped as he hopped onto a stool at the island. His eyes widened at the sight of all of the bowls sitting on the countertop. "Whoa! Are you cooking for an army, Lita?"

She shook her head. "No. But you would think that I am with all this food, wouldn't you? It's Serena's birthday on Monday, and Rini's too. Us girls always get together and celebrate when it's one of our birthdays, and I've been making Serena a birthday cake every year since I met her."

Nephrite chuckled. "It doesn't have to be her birthday for you to make something for her to eat. I've never known anyone, man or beast, that could pack away as much food as I've seen that girl inhale since we got here. I'm surprised that she hasn't eaten you out of house and home by now."

Jadeite nodded vigorously. "She does like to eat. Maybe her large appetite is just a leftover Lunarian trait from her former life. If I remember correctly, Lunarians always had to eat a lot to keep their energy levels up. And since the gravity here on Earth is stronger than the gravity on the moon was, it makes sense that she would have to compensate for the extra strain the weight puts on her energy if she does still have some leftover Lunarian qualities."

Nephrite stared at him for a moment like he had suddenly grown another head before exclaiming, "Zoicite! When did you take possession of Jed's body?"

"Very funny!" Jadeite grumbled. "I _do _have a brain. And I _do _know how to use it. Do you honestly think that all I think about is women and partying?"

"Noo…" Lita drawled. "You also think about sex, cars, sex, video games…oh, and did I mention sex?"

His blueberry eyes twinkled as he lifted his drink to her in a salute. "You're a sharp one, Lita. Neph better stay on his toes around you." Then he winked outrageously.

Lita huffed a laugh, and then sighed as she began dropping spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet. "I just hope that this birthday goes better for Serena than the past few have."

"What do you mean?" Nephrite inquired.

"Well," she hedged as she turned to slide the cookies into one of the preheated double oven. "I guess her fourteenth birthday was okay. That was shortly before she became Sailor Moon. But when all of us scouts were reunited again a few months later we decided to throw a belated birthday party for all of us. That was when we were in the middle of fighting Beryl and she had kidnapped Darien, so we had put the party together in an attempt to boost Serena's spirits. But Dark Prince Endymion decided to set a youma loose that night and it kinda ruined everything."

She propped a hip against the counter before continuing. "Her fifteenth birthday was even worse. She and Darien had a fight that day because she thought that he'd forgotten her birthday. In truth, the silly Meatball Head had never even told him when her birthday was. But they met up later and were in the process of making up when they were attacked. We were fighting a particularly nasty, alien-possessed scientist at the time, who also happened to be Hotaru's father. He liked to send his little minions out to collect peoples' pure heart crystals. He had this one psycho chic working for him named Kaori Knight, another redheaded bitch, and she targeted Serena. She took her brooch, so she couldn't transform, and Darien was frozen in glass and captured while protecting Serena. Uranus and Neptune were slinking around at that time, but they refused to join forces with us at that point. They were after the talismans that were supposed to be sealed inside of pure heart crystals because they were trying to keep Saturn from being awakened. They thought for sure that the planet would go ka-blooey if she showed up. But they never counted on Serena and what she was capable of. Anyway, Serena's birthday that year ended in a pretty big fight with the schizophrenic redhead.

"Last year was just…sad. We had just finished defeating Nehelenia and the Dead Moon Circus. Rini had left to go back to Crystal Tokyo. And Darien had just announced his big decision to go to Harvard. Serena tried to keep a brave face, but you could tell that she just wasn't feeling it. She only had one slice of cake and went home. It was very un-Serena-like."

Jadeite let out a low whistle. "Man! You girls and Darien have seen a lot of action, haven't you?"

Lita smirked. "That was just the tip of the iceberg. There was also Galaxia, The Dark Moon clan, Fiore and the Kissenian Blossom, Queen Badianu and her annoying little dream fairies, and Princess Snow Kaguya."

"Okay! Okay! I get the picture," the perky blonde laughed. He tipped back his can, draining the last of his soda, before glancing at the clock. "Speaking of seeing some action, I better get going. When I talked to Raye a little bit ago she told me that she was closing up the charm booth, so she should be free by now. Later!"

He strolled leisurely from the room, pitching his can into the trash as he went.

Lita shook her head in amusement before looking at Nephrite. His face had darkened into an angry, yet sad expression. "Hey! What's wrong with you?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing."

She brandished a spatula at him. "You can't fool me. I can tell you have something on your mind. Now spill!"

He sighed heavily. "It's just…hearing you talk about all the fights that you've been in the past few years. I wish I could have been there with you, fighting by your side."

She skirted the counter until she was standing in front of him. Then she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Aw, that's so sweet. And don't worry. I'm sure we'll get our opportunity to fight side by side someday. The important thing is that you're here now. And that's all that matters."

His mouth quirked up in a grin. "That's all that matters, huh?"

"Damn straight!" she told him emphatically. "Now, give me a kiss so I can get back to work."

He gave her a naughty look. "Who says we have to stop with just a kiss? We do have this entire place all to ourselves."

She slapped at his arm. "I say so because I have cookies in the oven that have to be watched. So I can't let myself get distracted with _other things. _They might burn if I do. Now are you going to kiss me or not?"

"Whatever my lady wants."

Then his warm lips covered hers in a long, exploratory kiss. Lita momentarily forgot about her cookies…until the oven timer went off and reminded her what she was supposed to be doing, sending her into a cursing fit.

* * *

"This is bliss," Amy sighed as she laid back against the smooth rock that surrounded her _"secret" _pond with her legs dangling down into the cool water.

She heard a husky chuckle next to her, and then a smooth tenor voice asked her, "Could I interest you in another strawberry, my love?"

She opened her eyes to find Zoicite leaning over her, dangling a bright red fruit just a few inches above her lips. She smiled up at him before saying, "I'll take it if you're offering."

A wide grin appeared on his face as he lowered the strawberry to her mouth. As she bit into it the juice from the fruit covered her lips in a glossy sheen. Unable to stop himself, he bent down and kissed her, using his tongue to lick away the residue.

She giggled as he pulled away several seconds later and gazed up at the leafy green canopy above them. "I don't think I've ever had such a lazy day. I haven't opened a single book today or turned on my computer even once."

Zoicite lounged back on his elbows and joined her at staring up into the branches overhead. It was another abominably hot summer day; especially to people like them that preferred things to be somewhat on the cold side. But the combination of the cool water and the thick leaves that blocked out most of the sunlight made it quite comfortable for both of them.

"Is it so bad to have a lazy day once in a while?" he asked her as he fought back yawn. It was so peaceful here. That, and the fact that he hadn't had much sleep the night before, made him feel like he could stretch out and take a nap right now.

She turned her head to look at him. "No. There's nothing wrong with taking a day off every now and then. I'm just not very used to it. During the school year I'm always busy with my studies. And even when I'm not in school I'm usually reading or researching something. Serena and Raye tend to bicker a lot, and Mina and Lita are usually talking about boys or shopping, so I got into the habit a long time ago of carrying a book with me. It usually helps me tune them out when they get too carried away."

He nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. Jadeite and Zoicite are constantly getting under each other's skin, and Kunzite isn't much of a conversationalist. So I usually keep a book close by as well to help fill the void."

She flashed him an impish smile. "Well considering you don't have a book stashed away around here gives me hope that there aren't any voids that you feel like need filling right now."

His eyebrows shot up at her statement. "Of course not! You are probably the only person in existence that I feel comfortable enough with to just kick back and let the world fade away. Even the silences between us are nice. I don't feel this overwhelming need to keep myself busy with something else. It's a refreshing change of pace."

"That's nice to know," she mumbled thickly as she muffled a yawn behind her hand.

"Am I boring you that much?" he couldn't help but tease.

Her blue eyes widened. "Oh no! It's not that at all. I just feel so sleepy for some reason. It must be the heat."

His bright green eyes glimmered humorously. "Or it could be the fact that you barely got any sleep last night."

One of her shoulders lifted in a half shrug. "I guess it could be that, but I've never had it affect me like this before. I'm used to getting by on very little sleep."

"But pouring over books all night doesn't use a fraction of the energy that we did last night," he replied in a voice that was shaking with repressed laughter.

"Ooo," she fumed, sitting up to glare at him. "You're picking on me, aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little bit," he confessed.

She sniffed haughtily. "Well let me tell you something, smart guy! There have been many times that I have gone to school all day, then turned around to spend my afternoons and evenings trying to help tutor Serena and the others, only to come home and study for a while before some idiot enemy decided to show up. I would transform and run to help the others fight before going back home to study some more. And was still able to go take two exams the next morning and receive perfect marks. So if you think that doesn't take a lot of energy out of a person, you better think again, pal! I have perfected the art of multitasking."

Luckily, Zoicite was smart enough to know when to back down. "My apologies, Lady Mercury. I in no way meant to imply that your stamina was substandard."

Amy tried, and failed, to keep from smiling. "Oh, don't try kissing up to me. I know when I'm being teased."

He grinned goofily. "What if I try kissing something else?" He sat up and then leaned forward to place his lips on the long column of her neck.

"You're horrible!" she squealed as goose bumps broke out over her skin at the contact.

He gave her a possessive look. "That's not what you were saying during the pre-dawn hours this morning."

Embarrassed heat flew into her cheeks at his not so subtle reminder of the events that had occurred between them during the overnight hours.

He cupped one of her pinkened cheeks in his hand and stroked it gently with his thumb. "I'm sorry, Amy. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

She shook her head. "No. It's okay. I wouldn't change anything at all about last night. I guess I'm just not used to playful banter." Then she smirked. "But I wonder what Jadeite would think if he learned that you were just as bad as he is when it comes to _innuendos_."

"He'd probably be jealous because my vocabulary surpasses his," he laughed. "But the difference between Jed and I is that he shares his flamboyant personality with everyone while you are the only one that gets to see this side of me. When I'm with you, I feel like I can truly be myself instead of always being so calm and proper. You see past the outer shell that I present to everyone else and touch me deeply, right down to my very soul."

"I feel the same way," Amy said as she lifted her legs out of the water and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Don't get me wrong. I love the girls dearly, and they have helped me so much the past few years in getting me to come out of the cocoon that I have always kept myself wrapped in, Serena especially. They've taught me how to loosen up and have fun instead of always burying myself in my studies. But there is always this reservation in the back of my mind telling me to never completely let go. But when I'm with you I feel…free. Does that make sense?"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. "It makes perfect sense. You are a strong woman, Amy. That is what makes you such a wonderful strategist both on and off the battlefield. The scouts depend on your problem solving skills and your tactical knowledge to help keep them safe. But you don't have to be that way with me. I know that beneath Sailor Mercury's fuku and tiara lies the real Amy Mizuno. And that is the woman that I love."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled even closer to him. "Thank you. I can't believe that I considered, just for a moment, not returning your soul to your body. We would have missed out on so much."

His sigh ruffled her hair. "I wouldn't have held it against you if you had decided to just leave me be. Heaven knows that it would have been nothing less than I deserved."

Amy shushed him by laying her fingers against his lips. "Now none of that! I couldn't leave you locked up in that crystal knowing that the reason why the events that occurred in the past only happened because Beryl used her magic to warp your mind. It wasn't your fault. Now if you had done what you did out of your own free will…"

His arms tightened around her. "Never! I would take my own life before I ever purposefully hurt you."

She hugged him in return. "I know you would never hurt me. You're a good man, Zoi. And that's why I'm here with you now. I trust you. Now, let's leave the past in the past and focus on the future, okay."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. Then he chuckled as she turned her face into his chest to stifle another yawn. "Perhaps we should pack up the remains of our picnic and head back to the house. You could catch a nap before dinner."

She looked up at him with drowsy eyes. "But I don't want to go yet. It's so nice and peaceful here. I know we need to get back soon so I can feed Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, but I want to stay just a little while longer."

It was a beautiful setting, so he didn't argue with her. He just lay back on the ground, pulling her down with him. They stayed silent, listening to the sounds of the birds in the trees, the small forest animals around them, and the leaves rustling in the breeze. And in no time it lulled them both to sleep.

* * *

"Why in the world did grandpa have Chad store the love charms on such a high shelf?" Raye grumbled to herself as she stood on top of a stepladder in the shrine's storeroom and stretched up, trying to reach a box on the topmost shelf. "Does he think that just because everyone else around is taller than him that we are all ten feet tall?

She cursed as her fingers brushed against the bottom of the box she was trying to reach, making sure to keep her voice low in case her grandfather was close enough to hear her. The lovable old man pretended deafness for the most part when she went off on her rants, even ignoring her language as long as it wasn't too obscene. But the whispered words spilling past her lips at the moment were ones that were sure to land her on the sharp end of her grandfather's tongue and saddled with enough chores to keep her busy until she was fifty.

It had been a great day up until now. Since Chad was away for the day she had helped grandpa set up the charm booth and had worked beside him all morning as they tended to the patrons who had visited the shrine. The business had died off as lunchtime approached, and after waiting a bit longer and taking care of the few stragglers that wandered in, they had decided to close the stand down for the day. Wanting to see Jadeite again, she had called and told him to give her about an hour and then come pick her up.

But just as she began packing away the charms a bus had stopped at the bus stop at the foot of the shrine steps and deposited at least a dozen high school girls who had been in search of love charms. No sooner had she finished with them, than a soccer team on their way to some kind of playoffs had stopped by wanting to pick up some good luck charms. After that, a soon to be bride had stopped by with her ostentatiously large wedding party to pick over some happiness charms.

Finally, everyone had left, and just as she had been trying to calculate how fast she would have to hurry through her shower to be ready before Jadeite got there, another round of giggling teenage girls had descended on them. She had been tempted to tell them all to go to hell, but the shrine depended on the money made from selling charms in order to help with the expenses. So she bit her tongue and put a smile on her face.

The booth had been completely wiped out of love charms by then, which, of course, the girls were interested in. So grandpa had sent her to get some more from the storeroom. And now here she was.

But getting to the charms was proving to be easier said than done. She eased up onto her tiptoes, cautious of the fact that she was in a precarious position on top of the stepladder, and reached up as far as she could. But she still couldn't quite grasp hold of the box.

Impatience caught up with her quickly. Jadeite could arrive at any minute, and here she was, still in her shrine robes with pieces of her dark hair sticking to her hot sweaty face. Not exactly the poised image that she had hoped to present to her boyfriend.

She made one last attempt, surging up to her toes and extending her reach as much as she could. If she couldn't reach that box she would just have to tell those silly, simpering bimbos that they would have to come back tomorrow. Chad would be back by then, and he could get the damned box for himself.

A moment too late, she sensed the danger. The stepladder gave one shake before it began toppling to one side. She fell from her perch and began tumbling toward the ground. She screwed her eyes shut and prepared for impact. But instead of smacking into the hard wooden floor, she found herself caught up in a pair of warm arms.

"Jed," she whispered, knowing who had caught her without seeing him. She had been too distracted before to sense him drawing near, but now his aura wrapped around her like an old, comfortable blanket.

Then he chuckled. "Looks like I got here just in time, doesn't it?"

Her eyes popped open to look up into his laughing blueberry colored ones. For a moment she was lost in his gaze, but then she shook her head to clear it as she slid out of his hold.

"You just got lucky, general," she told him in her usual brisk tone. But then she softened the sting just a bit by adding, "But I am glad you were here. I would have been covered in black and blue marks if you hadn't caught me before I hit the floor."

His eyes darkened in concern. "You would have been lucky to have not broken a bone. Now, what box were you trying to reach?"

She pointed up at the one labeled _Love Charms_. "That one. Grandpa and I were closing up when we suddenly got swamped. Teenage girls have been swarming in here like crazy and they cleaned us out of love charms. I'd hoped to be ready to go by the time you got here, but that didn't happen."

He cocked a grin at her. "That's okay. The day is young."

He looked around carefully, making sure that none of the people outside in the courtyard were peeking in. Then he lifted his hand, and with a casual flick of his fingers, had the box floating down to land in his arms.

"Nice trick! I always wished that I could do that," Raye grumbled under her breath.

Jadeite elbowed her lightly. "Don't be that way, Firefly. I admit that it's a handy little ability to have, but you have a lot more talent than I do. You're ten times better at reading and interpreting fire than I am."

She gave him a smug grin. "No. I'm a hundred times better at it than you are. But I will give you some credit. You are pretty good at summoning and controlling fire."

He preened like a peacock. "Oh, baby, I'm much better than just pretty good."

Heat seeped into her cheeks as she sensed the double innuendo behind his words, but she didn't let it rile her. She was becoming used to his slightly off kilter sense of humor. She just rolled her eyes and reached for the box.

"I've got it," he told her quickly.

Part of her seethed at being treating like a helpless little woman. Like she hadn't been lugging these boxes around for almost half her life! But a softer, feminine part buried deep inside her felt warm at his actions. She knew that he wasn't trying to act macho by insisting that he carry the box. He was just trying to be helpful. She would never admit it out loud, but she was touched.

"Come on then," she told him, leading him back outside toward the charm stand, where they found that Chad had returned and had joined her grandfather.

"What are you doing back so early?" she asked. "I thought you'd be gone most of the day, visiting with your family."

Chad grinned and waved a hand. "Nah. I stayed long enough for my mother to consider it to be a proper visit, and then I got out of there. I can only handle so much of them, especially when they all start trying to talk over each other about business and their fancy clubs. I'd much rather be here where things seem more real."

"I don't blame you there," Raye agreed as she thought back on the few times that her father had roped her into going to some function or another with him. They had been nauseating affairs where all the people in attendance seemed bent on trying to one up each other in everything, from what kind of cars they drove to where they spent their ridiculously lavish vacations. It still made her shudder to think about it.

"Hey are those the love charms?" Chad asked, gesturing to the box in Jadeite's arms. "Great! These girls are going ballistic wanting to see them."

"And about time too!" Grandpa blustered as he stomped over and practically jerked the box away from Jadeite. Then he turned a glare on his granddaughter. "You were taking so long I thought you must have hopped a ship to mainland China to go after them."

"Why you ungrateful old codger!" Raye exploded. "Is that the thanks I get for almost breaking my neck for you? Why in the hell did you have the love charms on the top shelf anyway? They are our biggest sellers!"

Grandpa passed the box to Chad, who hurried over to where a group of teenage girls were staring at him with dazed, love struck looks. A few of them had also noticed Jadeite and were eyeballing him, which didn't improve Raye's mood.

"Can I help you girls with something?" she snapped heatedly at the gawkers.

"Now don't start running away the customers with one of your temper tantrums," Grandpa admonished, shaking a finger at her. "You'd think that you were jealous or something with the way you're acting. You're the one that Jed caught when you fell, not those other girls."

Jadeite choked on a laugh as he caught the teasing twinkle in the old man's eyes. That wily old coot! Nothing ever got past him.

"I…you…but…" Raye sputtered. Then she hissed, "Were you spying on me?"

Grandpa clucked his tongue. "My dear girl, you should know by now that I have no need to spy. I saw the incident happen this morning as I gazed into the Great Fire. That is why I steered Jed in your direction the moment he came up the steps. You could have been seriously hurt if I hadn't pointed out your location immediately."

"That still doesn't explain why the love charms were so high up," she countered back.

The old priest folded his hands in front of him, appearing as innocent as a baby. Then he said simply, "If that box hadn't been up there then you wouldn't have almost fallen. Fate had chosen for you to be in Jadeite's arms at that moment, and I, for one, never mess with fate. Now be a good girl and go clean up. I'm sure you two lovebirds have plans. Chad can help me finish up."

"I think your doctor needs to change your medication!" Raye flung over her shoulder as she stomped toward her room.

"Whew!" Jadeite sighed as he watched her retreating form. "And I thought that I was the only one that she got that angry at."

"She's not really angry, just passionate," Grandpa replied wisely. "Her blood runs as hot as fire through her veins. She doesn't live for confrontation, but riling her up helps keep her sharp." Then he laughed. "It's also great fun to pick on her…if you know how far you can push her before she completely blows her stack."

Jadeite joined him in his laughter. "That's true. But I'm afraid that I'm still learning my limits with her. Most of the time she stays so mad at me that I fear that she's going to separate my head from my body."

Grandpa crossed his arms with a smug expression. "Just give it time. I have faith that the two of you will find a way to coexist someday. It may not always be smooth sailing, but I believe you have a long and happy future together ahead of you."

* * *

"So you're going home soon, huh?" Mina asked as she floated on a raft in her backyard pool.

"Uh huh," Rini murmured from her seat in an inner tube next to her. "Mom's letter said that she and daddy had taken care of whatever _important business _that caused them to put off our vacation before. I just hope that it doesn't end up being a total bust. It wouldn't be the first time that our plans had to change more than once because people won't leave them alone for even a few days."

"I know what you mean," Mina sympathized. "Since my dad works for the government he's always in high demand. I can't tell you how many school plays and birthdays he missed when I was growing up because he was called away on business."

"Yeah," Rini muttered glumly.

"Speaking of birthdays," Mina inserted quickly, trying to lighten the mood. "You've got one coming up the day after tomorrow, the big one-four. I can't believe how grown up you're becoming. You're definitely not a little girl anymore."

Rini's expression turned dark. "I wish somebody would tell my dad that. Mom's lightened up on me some, and she seems to be fairly understanding, but dad…he still treats me like a five year old sometimes."

Mina giggled. "That's just the way dads are when it comes to their daughters. You should have seen my dad when I told him that I wanted to move back here alone. His face turned so red that I thought he was going to have a heart attack. Of course, I had only just turned fifteen at the time. My mom was a bit more reasonable. I've always said that if I had been a boy that my dad wouldn't have spazzed out as much. But alas, we girls are always faced with double standards. And one of them seems to be that sons seem to be able to get away with more than daughters."

Rini didn't respond to that, but Mina heard her grumble to herself. She couldn't exactly make out the words, but she could have sworn it was something along the lines of, "Tell me about it."

The back of Mina's neck prickled with the sensation that someone was watching her. She turned her head to look and saw Serena motioning for her from the glass patio doors. Using her hands, she propelled her raft toward the side of the pool.

"I'm going to get something to drink, Rini. Do you want anything?" she asked as she climbed up to stand beside the pool.

The pink haired head shook in the negative. "Nah, I'm okay for now. But try to find out where Serena and Darien are. They went after drinks almost ten minutes ago. They better not be off somewhere making out."

Mina giggled at the younger girl's blunt assessment of what she thought the past forms of her parents might be up to. "I'll take a peek around. Be right back!"

The smooth stones that made up the patio had grown hot in the day's sun, so she flew quickly toward the house, barely giving her feet time to come into contact with the ground. A blast of cool, air conditioned air hit her as she slipped through the glass doors and stepped onto the tile floor.

Serena turned from where she had been rummaging through the refrigerator, holding a chilled bottle of sport's drink in her hand. "Wow! That was quick. I figured that it would take you a minute to get away from motor mouth out there."

Mina shrugged. "Nah! She actually hasn't been as much of a chatterbox as usual today. In fact, she been almost completely closed mouthed. I guess the paternal side of her DNA has taken over for now. Speaking of which," she craned her neck as she looked around, "where is daddy-dearest anyway?"

Serena's expression scrunched up. "He had a phone call from his advisor at Harvard, so he stepped out front to take it. They're trying to get the details of his flight and his housing arrangements ironed out now so that there are no problems later."

"Serena, are you really okay with Darien leaving?" Mina asked after a worried moment. "I know that you say that you are, but are you sure."

Serena waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'm cool with it, for real. I'm not saying that it will be easy, or that I won't cry a few tears from time to time, but I do think that this is a good thing. Dreams are important to people, and if a person has a chance to accomplish one of their dreams they should take it. Darien has been waiting for an opportunity like this for at least half of his life. Sure, it will be hard for us, being apart for such a long time, but sometimes sacrifice is needed in order to reach the goals we set for ourselves. It will all be worth it in the end when he comes back all highly educated and stuff. And who knows, without him around to distract me, and as long as no new enemies come along, my grades might keep getting better. I may even do well enough to get into college myself someday."

Mina blinked hard. "Wow! That's pretty heavy for you. Don't tell me that you're going to turn into a bookworm like Amy."

"No way!" Serena laughed. "But I guess I've finally grown up enough to see what everybody has been trying to tell me the last few years. The future Earth could end up a gigantic mess if Neo Queen Serenity turns out to be a total flake. So it's up to me to make sure that doesn't happen. But I can't spend all of my time studying. There are still mangas to read and sales at the mall to hit. I am a teenage girl after all."

"So true!" Mina flashed her V sign. "Us girls still have to have our retail therapy. And shopping trips just wouldn't be the same without you there to keep me company in the clothing stores when Amy bails on me to go to the bookstore and Lita runs off to the kitchen supply shop. And don't even get me started on how many hours Raye spends in that store that sells candles and incense. I'd have a headache for sure if I stayed in there for too long with all of those different smells all mixed together."

"For sure!" Serena agreed. "Never fear though! Even though I want to try to make sure I'm a good queen someday, I'll still always be up for a good mall trolling. But enough about me, that's not what I called you in here to talk about."

Now Mina's curiosity was piqued. "What _do _you want to talk about?"

"Weelll…" Serena drawled, sneaking a quick look out the back door to see that Rini was still floating on her inner tube in the pool. "It's like this, and please don't think I'm being selfish or presumptuous about this. But every year you girls have been great about doing something to acknowledge my birthday, and I'm assuming that this year is no different. Right?"

Mina nodded and answered cautiously, "Yes…Lita said that she had a new cake recipe that she's wanting to try that she thinks you'll be crazy about. We were going to suggest everyone getting together on Monday night so you could blow your candles out. Of course we had planned on including Rini as well, since it's her birthday too. But now that she's leaving…"

"Just hold that thought!" Serena jumped in. "I had a great idea that I wanted to run by you. I was thinking that since Rini has to return to the future on Monday, maybe we could do a little something for her tomorrow. You know, a kind of birthday/going away party."

Mina snapped her fingers. "Hey! That really is a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?"

Serena snickered evilly. "I guess that just goes to show who the smartest blonde is around here."

"Ha! You smarter? You wish!" Mina countered back. "Just because you have one good idea doesn't mean that you're suddenly a genius. I think we both know who the smartest blonde in this house is right now."

The sound of a throat clearing came from the doorway that led into the rest of the house, followed by a deep voice saying, "Ladies, I do believe that honor falls to me at the moment."

Mina spun around, her eyes widening in surprise at the unexpected voice. They narrowed to blue slits a moment later when she identified the conversation crasher. "Hmph! Don't you have a high opinion of yourself, general. Besides, I don't think your hair qualifies as being blonde."

Kunzite smirked at her. "It's platinum blonde."

"It's practically white, silvery white at that," she shot back. "I've seen little old men with almost the exact same shade of hair."

That caught his attention. "Are you saying that I look like an old man?"

She shrugged. "You can take it however you want to. At least I didn't compare you to an old lady. Lots of elderly women spend a lot of time and money to keep their hair bright like yours instead of dull."

"You are a cruel woman, Mina," Kunzite growled, but his gray eyes sparkled with humor.

She blew him a kiss. "Aw, poor baby! Did I insult your manliness? That's okay. Later on I'll give you a chance to prove to me how manly you really are."

Serena squeaked. "Excuse me! Did you forget that I was here? I know you two are close, but I don't need any mental images of what you guys do behind closed doors, thank you very much! I'm going to go and make a few phone calls and see if the other girls are on board with what we were talking about."

As Kunzite stepped aside to let her pass, she asked, "Is Darien still outside?"

"Yes. He was on the phone and pacing the front walkway, so it must be a pretty important conversation. We only exchanged waves as I came up," told her.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement before heading for the living room where she had tossed her purse, containing her cell phone, upon arrival. After taking only a few steps, she rolled her eyes as she heard Mina squeal, followed immediately after by the unmistakable muffled sounds of kissing.

"And people always said that Darien and I had a hard time keeping our hands and lips to ourselves," she muttered as she picked her purse up from an end table and pulled her phone out.

She dialed Amy first, figuring that it would be best to find out what time she and Zoicite would be returning to the city before calling the other girls to set up a time for the party. The phone rang several times before a groggy, sleep thickened voice answered, "Hello."

"Amy?" Serena asked uncertainly.

"Oh, hey, Serena," Amy mumbled. Then it sounded as if she yawned. "What's up?"

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry," Serena apologized. But she was also completely mystified. Amy wasn't usually the type for a middle of the day nap.

"No. It's okay," Amy quickly reassured her, sounding more like herself. "I just laid down for a minute and I must have dozed off."

There was a shuffling noise, like Amy must be sitting up or something, followed almost immediately by Zoicite's voice in the background asking, "Who is it, Amy?"

Serena couldn't help but giggle. "So you were napping, huh?"

"Yes!" Amy snapped back. "Zoi and I we're having a picnic, and I guess we both fell asleep. I didn't sleep well last night."

A low whistle slid past Serena's lips. "You better be lucky that I'm the one calling you and not Mina. She'd be all over you in a heartbeat for saying that. I take it the trip is going well?"

"Oh yes! It's been a wonderful weekend," Amy told her. "It's always nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a few day. So what's going on with you? I get the feeling that you called me for more than to just ask me how my weekend was going."

Serena gave her a quick rundown, explaining how Rini had to go home soon and her idea to give the younger teenage girl a party. "So I was wondering if you and Zoicite were interested in coming, or if you would even be back by then," she finished up.

"Sure. We'll be there," Amy told her. "My dad's flight is coming in early tomorrow morning. I'll probably visit with him for a while, but we should be back home sometime in the afternoon."

The girls chatted a couple of more minutes before they hung up. Then Serena dialed Lita. They were going to need a cake for this occasion, and she was hoping that her culinarily gifted friend would be able to help her out.

The phone rang so many times that Serena was sure it was about to go to voicemail. But then Lita answered, panting slightly, "Serena, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Serena reassured her. "Is this a bad time?"

Lita snorted. "Nah. I just had a little accident in the kitchen earlier and was in the shower. I jumped out quickly when I heard my phone ringing."

"Oh! I won't keep you long then," Serena promised her. Then she gave Lita the same spiel she had given Amy. She finished with, "So do you think you might be able to do something about the cake?"

"You're in luck!" Lita told her triumphantly. "I've been baking most of the day, making goodies for your birthday party. And since I knew it was Rini's too, I went ahead and made her a cake too. So it's all taken care of."

"Leave it to you to be one step ahead in the food department," Serena laughed. But then she heard something that caused a hot blush to rush into her face.

"Hey, Lita! Aren't you coming back in the shower? The water is going to get cold if you don't. And I don't think I got all the chocolate off of you yet."

Serena slapped a hand over her mouth. That was Nephrite's voice! When Lita had told her that she had been taking a shower, she'd naturally assumed that she was taking it alone. Boy, had she been wrong!"

She heard Lita hiss something unintelligible. She probably had her hand over the phone so Serena couldn't hear her. Then she spoke into the phone. "Hey, Serena, I'll call you later. I'm dripping water all over the place."

"Um…yeah…sure. I…I'll catch you later," Serena stammered and quickly hit the end call button.

"Problem?" Darien's voice asked from right behind her.

She spun around, clutching her phone to her chest. "Um…no! I was just calling the other girls. I thought that since Rini's birthday is on Monday too that we could give her a little party tomorrow night before she leaves."

Darien raised a brow at her. "Are you sure that's all? You're awfully jumpy, and your face is a red as an apple. You did put sunscreen on your face, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," she muttered petulantly.

He reached out to stroke her warm cheek lightly. "So what has you so flustered then?"

She pulled back slightly. "It's nothing. I was talking to Lita and heard something, or someone I guess I should say, that I wish I hadn't."

Comprehension fell across his features. "Oh!"

"Never mind that," she said, changing the subject. "How did your phone call go?"

"Incredibly smooth," he told her. "Everything is all lined out. My flight is in six weeks and I'll get there a few days before classes start so that I'll have time to settle in and get used to things. I'm going to be staying in one of the dorm buildings on campus, but the good news is that I'll have a room all to myself."

"That is good news," Serena agreed. "I know that you were worried about possibly having to share since you keep such crazy hours." Then she fixed a bright smile on her face. "So six weeks, huh? We're going to have to make the most of every moment between now and then."

He pulled her forward suddenly, into a tight hug. "Serena, are you sure you want me to do this? It's not too late to change my mind. I could…"

She rose up onto her tiptoes and silenced him with a kiss that lasted several seconds. Afterward, she told him, "I thought we already had all of this worked out. No more second-guessing, remember. You are getting on that plane and going to school to become a great doctor. You'll probably get so super smart that you won't want anything to do with dum-dum me when you get back."

"That will never happen," he whispered to her as he dipped his head down to give her a sweet, gentle, yet very thorough kiss.

Her head was swimming dizzily when they finally parted, but she pushed him away playfully with a laugh. "Go keep Rini company for a little bit. I'm sure Kunzite still has Mina, um…distracted, so she would probably appreciate someone to swim with. I'll be out soon. I just need to call Raye and the outers real quick. I'm sure Hotaru would like to come to Rini's party."

Darien chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this is your subtle way of telling me to get lost."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Well let me make it a little less subtle so that you can understand. _Get lost for a minute! _I've got girl stuff to take care of."

"All right, all right! I'm going," he grumbled good-naturedly as he strode casually from the room.

Serena looked after him fondly for a moment before shaking her head and giggling to herself. Then she dialed Raye to get her input on the party. At least with the dark haired priestess she wouldn't have to worry about hearing anything unexpected or shocking.

* * *

Raye moved her cell phone to hold it between her shoulder and her ear as she dug in her small backpack purse for her sunglasses, "Yeah, sure, I'll come to Rini's party. I kinda hate to see the squirt leave so soon. I feel like I haven't spent nearly enough time with her with everything that's been going on around here lately."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Serena replied morosely from the other end of the line. "This has been a way super-short trip for her. I'm used to her staying for a few months at a time, not just a week. But she's got a vacation trip planned with her mom and dad, so I can't really blame her for wanting to go back home. She has been a bit of a pain a few times, but I am going to miss her."

Raye snickered. "Aw, Meatball Head! Is that actually maternal feeling that I hear in your voice?"

"Can it, Pyro!" Serena growled. "I'm trying to be serious here. It's not just Rini that I feel like I haven't spent much time with. I feel that way about all of you girls. Other than a few outings we've all been busy doing our own things. I'm excited about an opportunity for all of us to get together and spend a little time with each other."

"You do have a point," Raye had to admit. Then inspiration struck. "Hey! Why don't we make a total big deal out of this and make a whole afternoon and evening of it? I know the heat bothers just about everyone except for Jed and I, but according to the weather report there is a cool front that's supposed to be moving through tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be quite nice. We could all get together at the park and have a big picnic or something. What do you think?"

Serena's squeal came through the phone, making Raye jerk it several inches away from her ear to protect her eardrum. "That is a fabulous idea, Raye! Lita is supposed to be calling me back in a little bit. I'll talk it over with her and see what we can come up with."

"Okay. I'll call you back later on tonight to get and update. Now if you don't mind, I'm kinda on a date!" Raye replied firmly.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Serena apologized profusely. "I'll let you go now. Tell Jed that I said hi!"

"Only if you tell Darien that I said hi in return," Raye quipped. "Talk to you later, Meatball Head!" Then she hung up.

"What was that about?" Jadeite asked as he returned from getting them a couple of ice cream cones."

Raye shook her head. "Oh, nothing much. It was just Serena calling to babble to me about some idea that she had." Then she filled him in on Rini's upcoming departure and the party that they were planning.

"Sounds like fun," he told her. Then he asked, "So what do you want to do next?"

"Hmm…" she mused as she looked around. They had opted to go to the amusement park that Jadeite had attempted to invite her to a few weeks before. And because of the heat there was no crowd, giving them almost free run of the place. Jadeite, of course, had never experienced a place like it before, and he'd kept Raye in stitches with his boyish enthusiasm.

She licked at the strawberry ice cream that was already beginning to melt before replying, "How about the Ferris Wheel next? We haven't been on it yet."

Jadeite eyed the giant wheel skeptically. "I don't know. It just goes around and around in a circle, and it doesn't even go very fast. I was thinking that maybe we could give the roller coaster another spin. That thing was bad!"

Raye gestured to the triple scoop chocolate ice cream cone that he was almost inhaling in an attempt to eat it before it melted. "Believe me, you'll be glad that you didn't rush right back to the coaster after eating that thing. The worst thing you can do is fill your stomach up right before you go get on a machine that's going to flip you over, around, and inside out. Even the strongest stomachs have lost the battle against those g-forces."

"But…" he whimpered like a child that had just lost his favorite toy as he looked off in the distance toward the giant loops of the roller coaster tracks.

She patted his shoulder lightly. "There, there, poor baby. I'm just trying to keep from putting a damper on our day. And trust me, the only thing you'll feel like doing if you get on that ride with a full stomach is crawling home and going to bed."

He arched a brow at her. "That wouldn't be so bad if I had some company."

Raye felt a blush rush to her face, but she snorted. "Yeah right! You'd be so busy trying to keep from tossing your cookies that trying to get me into bed would be the last thing on your mind."

"Oh, I doubt that," he drawled. "You always tell me that I have a one track mind. I'm sure that I would still be able to envision what you would look like in my bed."

"You are absolutely impossible!" Raye fumed. But she did take his free hand in hers as she spun and stomped away in the direction of the Ferris Wheel. "We _are _going to ride the Ferris Wheel…and you're going to like it! Sure, it may not go super fast or upside down, but there is a spectacular view of the city from the top."

"As you wish, my lady," Jadeite chuckled.

They had both finished their ice cream by the time they reached the ride a few minutes later. Just like every other ride that they had ridden that day, the line was very short. So in just a couple of minutes they found themselves climbing into a car while the operator closed the door behind them.

"I just wish that this was the type of Ferris Wheel that had the bench seats instead of enclosed cars," Raye murmured while she looked out through the metal mesh as their car rose slowly several feet so that more passengers could be loaded.

"So do I," Jadeite grumbled, but his voice had a strained sound to it.

Raye turned to look at him, and was surprised to see that his face had turned ashen and sweat had popped out on his forehead. "What's the matter?"

He forced a smile onto his face. "I'm okay. I just don't care much for small, enclosed spaces. I got locked in a storage closet once by accident when I was little and was stuck there for several hours before anyone found me."

Raye's eyebrows shot up beneath her dark bangs. "You're claustrophobic?"

"Not extremely!" he snapped back, sounding defensive. "I'm not like some of those whack jobs you hear about that can't stand to have walls of any kind around them. I can handle being inside just fine. I just don't like tiny, cramped spaces."

"I know that!" she fired right back. "I've seen you indoors enough to know that it doesn't bother you. I was just asking a question. You don't have to bite my head off about it. Geez!"

He took a deep breath to settle his nerves. "I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. Do you forgive me?" He flashed her his most charming smile.

Raye felt like she was melting into a puddle of gooey chocolate at the sight of that smile, but she could tell that he wasn't quite at ease yet. So she reached out to take his hand in hers and tugged him closer. "Come over here by me. There's plenty of fresh air coming through the grate. And in a minute you'll be able to see that view I was telling you about."

Sure enough, after starting and stopping several times, their car came to a halt at the top of the giant wheel, giving them a bird's eye view of the city around them. They weren't high enough up to see very far, but what they could see was impressive.

"So what do you think?" Raye asked her companion.

Jadeite shrugged. "It's nice. But if you think this is something, you should see the view I have from the balcony off my bedroom. Sometimes I stand out there for hours at night and watch the hustle and bustle of the city. It's really something to look at with all the lights glowing."

"It sounds lovely," she replied in a much softer than usual tone. "I would like to see it sometime."

His eyes jerked to hers in surprise. "You would?"

She giggled nervously. "Why do you sound so shocked?"

"Weelll…" he responded hesitantly. "I guess it's because you've been immune to all of my attempts to seduce you so far. So I can't believe that you would willingly put yourself in a position where you would be alone with me in my bedroom. You scurried out of there quick enough after I showed it to you yesterday."

"Well maybe I forgot to get my booster shot for my vaccination to your charms," she muttered. Then she blushed bright red as she realized that she had said that out loud.

"So the truth finally comes out," he drawled slowly. "You haven't been quite as repulsed by my overtures as you have led me to believe, have you, Lady Mars?"

"You need to deflate that ego of yours some," she growled back, her face still the same shade as her fuku skirt when she transformed. "And I never said that you personally were repulsive. I just said that I found a lot of the things you say to be in poor taste. I will be the first one to admit that you are an attractive man…at least until you open your mouth. Then the whole image gets shot straight to hell."

He ran a hand through his golden tousled curls. "Well at least I have my looks. That's at least one point in my favor."

Raye sat back against the padded seat and folded her arms as she looked out at the scenery that was whirling by as they traveled around the big wheel. "I rest my case. You're such a narcissist!"

"But you love me anyway," he quipped back. Then he turned serious. "Come on, Firefly. What do you say? You can come over tonight. I'll order us a fab dinner from somewhere and we can eat it on my balcony while we drink in the sights. I have quite a DVD collection too, so we can watch a movie if you want to."

His pleading look broke her down. "Oh, all right! We'll have a stay in night at your place."

A mischievous grin blossomed on his face. "And you'll stay all night too?"

It was a good thing that Raye was sitting at the moment, because suddenly her legs felt as weak and wobbly as Jell-o. But one look into those sparkling blue eyes that she loved had her agreeing, "Yes, I'll stay the night with you."

Jadeite leaned forward quickly and captured her lips in a hot, intense kiss that made her moan and cling to him as her senses spun.

Holy Ares! If he could turn her into a whimpering, brainless, clingy female with just one kiss, what would she be like after spending an entire night with him?

"I've been praying that you would learn to completely trust me ever since I first came back to this life," he told her softly as he ended the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. "Now that's it's finally come true it feels like a dream. But after everything that we've been through, I think we deserve our happily ever after. Don't you?"

"Yes," she whispered. Then she grinned as she felt the ride stop. "Well, general, at least I can say that I accomplished one thing."

He arched a brow at her. "And what would that be?"

She pushed him away lightly as the door to their car opened. "I managed to keep you distracted enough during that ride that being closed up in here didn't bother you at all."

One side of his mouth hitched up higher than the other. "Yes you did. In fact, I enjoyed it immensely."

She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder as she made to climb out. "Well don't get yourself too worked up, general. If you wear yourself out now you won't be able to have fun tonight."

He snickered evilly. "Don't worry about that, Firefly. I'm like the Energizer Bunny. I keep going and going and going…"

"Hentai!" Raye hissed. But the blush returned to her face in full force as she scrambled quickly out of the car.

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

"Yikes, Serena! You don't have to drown the bread in mayonnaise. A little goes a long way," Lita chided as she scraped the excess condiment from the slices of bread laid out on the counter.

"I'm sorry," Serena sniffled as she stepped back with her hands behind her back. "I was just trying to help out, and I can't even do that right. My brother has been right all along! I'm an absolute disaster in the kitchen!"

Lita winced as the blonde's voice fast approached a glass shattering frequency. "You're not a disaster, Serena. You're just, um…slightly heavy handed. That's all."

Serena took a deep breath and brought her emotions under control. "Thanks, Lita, but you don't have to try to sugarcoat it for me. I know I'm hopeless."

"Not _completely _hopeless," Lita hedged, trying to be helpful. "You learned how to make a decent curry, and that's something to brag about. Not everybody can accomplish that dish."

Serena snorted. "Yeah, but the kitchen always looks like a war zone after I get done. Mom banned me from cooking at home after I charred one of her favorite pans and set the kitchen curtains on fire. And Darien, bless his heart, let's me use his kitchen, but he stands by with a fire extinguisher, broom, and mop, because he knows in advance that some catastrophe is going to happen."

"Well, it pays to be prepared in case of trouble than to be caught unaware later," Amy said as she entered the penthouse kitchen.

"Amy! You're back!" Serena squealed as she jumped up from her seat and ran to engulf the blue haired girl in a bear hug. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon!"

Amy giggled as she returned the embrace. "My dad got in early this morning, and after Zoi and I had brunch with him and visited for a while we decided to head back. So where is the guest of honor at?"

"At the mall with Hotaru, having one last girl fling before she goes home," Serena told her. "When I called Amara yesterday to tell her about the party, Hotaru was in the background begging for Rini to come spend the night with her. Rini was so jazzed about the idea that I couldn't say no, even though I had kinda wanted her to stay with me last night. Anyway, Michelle called me earlier and said that she, Amara, and Trista were taking the girls shopping and would meet us at the park later."

"Which means that we need to get a move on if we want this food to be ready," Amy stated as she disentangled herself from Serena. "What can I do to help, Lita?"

"You can stir the potato salad," Lita replied as she nodded at a large bowl. "Most of the big stuff has been taken care of. Now we're just tying up the loose ends. Come on, Serena, and help me finish making these sandwiches."

Serena eyed her dubiously. "Are you sure you want me too? They may not be edible if I touch them."

"Just get over here and help me, girl!" Lita growled affectionately. "I'll be keeping an eye on you and won't let you do anything to screw them up."

"There's no need to fear! The goddess of love is here!" Mina announced as she twirled into the room.

"It's about time," Lita grumbled. "I thought you were going to sleep the whole day away. I know Kunzite's gone up at least ten times to try to wake you up. He finally gave up."

Mina waved a casual hand at her. "I needed my beauty sleep. I was up extremely late last night. Of course, that wasn't entirely my fault. Kunzite may not seem like it to the rest of you, but he can be quite insatiable sometimes. And he…"

"We don't want to hear it!" the other three girls exclaimed as they clapped their hands over their ears.

"Oh fine! Be that way! I wasn't going to tell you anything really juicy anyway," Mina huffed. Then her bright blue eyes fell on Amy, and they began to glitter rabidly. "Well, well, Amy. Your trip certainly seems to have agreed with you. You're positively glowing."

Pink stained Amy's cheeks as she mumbled politely, "Yes. It was a very pleasant trip."

An insanely feline smile curled up the so-called love goddess's lips. "Reeaallly?"

"Whatever information you are fishing for, you can forget it, Mina!" Amy snapped, her voice as icy as her expression. "I don't have to give you the details of my weekend. Zoicite and I spent a nice couple of days away from the city, and that's all you need to know."

Mina just winked. "That's okay. I don't need details. I can tell things about people without anyone saying a word."

"So does anyone have any idea where Raye is?" Lita jumped in to cut off a potential argument.

Serena shrugged. "I'm not sure. I haven't talked to her since late yesterday afternoon when I called to finalize plans with her. She seemed a little distant though, so I thought that she and Jed might have had a fight or something. She swore that they hadn't, and that they had spent a great afternoon at the amusement park. So I'm assuming they're okay. I tried to call her earlier, but I didn't get an answer. I guess she must be busy."

"She'll probably be here soon," Lita replied as she began laying thick slices of ham, turkey, and roast beef on the bread. "Knowing her, she probably got wrapped up with something at the shrine."

At that moment, the raven-haired priestess came flying into the kitchen. "I'm so sorry I'm late, you guys. I got busy doing something and lost track of time."

"It's cool," Lita reassured her. "We've got things running smoothly here, so don't worry it."

"If by running smoothly you mean Lita having to be the warden chef to make sure I don't screw everything up," Serena grumbled.

"You'll probably give us all food poisoning," Raye teased, but not unkindly. "So what can I do?"

"Hmm…" Lita mused. "I guess you can come help me finish the sandwiches while Serena and Mina start gathering up the paper plates, napkins, and stuff from the pantry."

"Sounds good to me!" Serena cheered as she abandoned the mayonnaise. She knew that Lita was just trying to keep her and Mina away from the food preparation, and that was just fine with her. Mina was even a bigger disaster in the kitchen than she was.

But Mina trailed after Raye as she crossed the room with a confused expression on her face. "Something's different about you, Raye. You seem…almost cheerful somehow."

Violet eyes snapped at her in irritation. "What? I can't be in a good mood sometimes? Who died and made you the happiness police?"

Mina tilted her head to the side in thought. "I didn't mean that you are never happy. You just seem…really, really calm. If I didn't know any better I would say…" Then her blue eyes widened until they almost swallowed her face. "Omigosh! You did!"

"Shut up!" Raye shrieked as she lunged at the blonde and clamped both of her hands over her mouth. "I swear that if you finish voicing the thought that you have bouncing around inside that empty head of yours, I will turn you into a flaming arrow pincushion. Is that clear?"

Above Raye's hands, Mina's large eyes filled with fear as she nodded rapidly.

Lita and Amy were both similar shades of red as they glanced around the room, searching for anything to take their attention away from the heated confrontation between their friends.

Serena gulped, and then jumped bravely between the two girls, separating them. She gave Raye what she hoped was a supporting smile as she took Mina by the arm. "Okay! Raye, you get to helping Lita. Those sandwiches aren't going to make themselves you know. And, Mina, you're with me. We've got all sorts of little goodies to gather if we're going to make this picnic happen, and the day's not getting any younger. So let's go!"

Lita huffed a laugh under her breath as she watched the shorter blonde literally drag the taller blonde from the room. Then she whispered out of the corner of her mouth to Amy, "Leave it to Serena to diffuse the situation. At least she got Mina off our backs."

Amy nodded. "Yes. Mina is really a sweet girl, but she can be incredibly nosy about personal issues sometimes. I understand that she can sense things about people and their relationships, but she takes it to an entirely different level. I just hope that between Serena and Kunzite that they can keep her off of us for a while."

"Ha!" Raye barked as she picked up Serena's discarded knife and began slathering mayonnaise on the bread. "If I know Mina, and unfortunately I know her better than I would like to, she won't let this die easily. She'll be pestering us all day, every day, for at least the next week."

Amy sighed. "Well at least we'll be with everybody for the rest of today. That will deter her from her cross-examinations."

"I wouldn't count on it," Lita grumbled. "Mina's Venusian senses have gotten sharper since she got together with Kunzite, making her more stubborn than ever. She'll be trying ways to ambush us for information."

"She wouldn't actually question us in front of the guys, would she?" Amy gasped.

Raye arched a brow at her. "Think of who we're talking about here. Of course she would! Mina may have cobwebs where her brains are supposed to be, but she's tenacious and has no sense of propriety. She doesn't care what she says and who she says it in front of. So we better prepare ourselves, because we just might have to kill the so-called goddess of love before the night is over."

* * *

"Oh, beautiful!" Serena squealed as the night sky exploded in a shower of colorful sparks. "I didn't know that the park was planning a fireworks show tonight."

Next to her, Darien chuckled. "I didn't either. I guess it's because of that music festival that they've had going on this weekend. I'm not complaining though."

She shook her head. "Neither am I. I'm going to take advantage of the free entertainment." She curled her legs under her and leaned her head against his shoulder.

But after a minute her eyes strayed from the spectacle in the sky to look at those around her. Besides her parents, and her annoying brat of a brother, these were the people that meant the most to her.

Her heart swelled as she took in the sight of the four couples that were nearby, sitting slightly apart from each other on blankets spread over the grass. Over the past few years she had sometimes felt extremely guilty that she had been given the chance to reconnect with her soul mate and one true love while her best friends had been left to drift aimlessly around in search for someone that could make them feel complete. She had prayed and wished many times that they could find happiness, but things just never seemed to pan out for them.

Raye had been the one that she had been convinced had the best shot at love. Everyone had known that Chad had a huge crush on her from the first day that he had landed on the temple steps. They also knew that Raye had feelings for him too, despite her constant denials. But over time their relationship had settled into a completely platonic, sibling-like friendship that seemed to suit them both perfectly.

Lita had a few ex-boyfriends stashed away in her past, but none of them had been serious relationships. She'd gone through a period of time when she'd thought that she might be in love with her childhood best friend, Ken. But after doing some soul searching she had decided that it was just a passing crush, and she didn't want to risk their friendship being destroyed over a short-lived fling. That had been a good thing, because Ken had found a nice girl that he was crazy in love with, and they had been together for over a year now.

Greg, who had been one of the Rainbow Crystal carriers back during the scout's battle against the Dark Kingdom, had come back to town about a year and half before to take a semester of classes at a technical school. He and Amy had spent quite a bit of time together, but it had never been anything truly romantic between them. It had just been the meeting of two intellectual minds. And when he left again they had parted as good friends.

Then there had been Mina…poor jaded, disillusioned Mina. She had definitely dated more than all of the rest of them put together, but she was never happy with the results. Sometimes the guys went out with her just because they thought she was a prize because she had been in movies. There had been a few genuinely nice guys in the mix, but she always broke it off with them because she sensed from the beginning that there was no connection between them. She'd called it her curse.

But none of the inner scouts looked lonely or cursed now. In fact, they all appeared to be glowing with love as they sat with their significant others and watched the show. Mina was in front of Kunzite, leaning back against his chest with his arms around her waist. Lita sat with her shoulder propped against Nephrite's. Raye had laid her head on Jadeite's shoulder. And Amy sat next to Zoicite with her fingers entwined tightly with his.

Not too far away from the array of small blankets, a larger one had been spread out and all four of the outer scouts, plus Rini, were sitting on it. When night had started falling and the couples had begun to break away, Amara had invited Rini to sit with them to spare her from all of the lovey-doveyness.

"_Come on, kiddo! You don't want to be subjected to the sight of all of these drooling, moronic men, do you? Believe me, it's a pathetic thing to see…borderline vomit inducing really. And I'm sure that you don't want an upset stomach after all that food you scarfed down," _the tall scout of wind had told her.

Darien bumped Serena's shoulder with his. "Hey! What are you thinking about so hard? You're missing the fireworks."

She shook her head and looked up at him. "Nothing important. I was just thinking about what a great day it's been. It's been nice having everybody together. I think Rini's had a great time too."

"It has been a nice little send off for her," he agreed. "I'm also glad that Amara has kept the man-bashing and attempted bloodshed down to a minimum. I was a little worried about her and the guys being around each other. You remember what happened last time."

"How could I forget? But everyone has behaved today," she giggled. Then she squealed as several fireworks went off at once in a rainbow of explosions. "Oh! How pretty!"

Darien leaned down to speak directly into her ear. "Nowhere near as pretty as you. You are brighter than any firework. You could light up the sky with just your smile."

She batted her lashes at him and drawled innocently. "Why, Mr. Shields, are you flirting with me?"

His familiar, lopsided grin appeared. "Perhaps. But I must be losing my touch. You've usually fallen into my arms by now."

"Aw, poor baby! Is this better?" she asked as she slid herself neatly onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He grinned wolfishly. "Yes." Then he pressed a quick kiss to her lips before pushing her head down to lay on his chest while he rested his chin between her twin hair buns.

After the fireworks came to a booming conclusion a few minutes later, most of the assembled people began dispersing. Serena stretched and stifled a yawn behind her hand.

"Tired?" Darien teased her gently.

"Not too much," she answered. "I think just sitting here got to me. I'll perk back up once I get up and walk around a little. I'm not ready for this night to end yet. As a matter of fact, I think I'll wander over and see if Lita has any of that delicious cake left."

He chuckled as he stood with her in his arms and then set her on her feet. "I guess it's a good thing that Lita brought both cakes with her. Although that means that you don't have a birthday cake for tomorrow now."

She shrugged. "I don't mind getting it a day early. Besides, my mom always makes me a big, ooey-gooey cake too. So I'll still get cake for my birthday. And you're still coming over for my birthday dinner, aren't you? Mom will be crushed if you don't."

"I'll be there," he promised her. But inwardly he cringed at the thought of having to spend an extended amount of time in the presence of Ken Tsukino. The man watched him like a hawk whenever he was around and had a tendency to squawk like a chicken if he so much as looked at Serena. Thankfully, Ilene was usually able to keep her husband from reacting too badly and he was able to escape these encounters without any physical injuries.

"Cake time!" Serena trilled as she began heading in the direction of Lita and Nephrite's blanket. But she hadn't taken more than a few steps when an icy shiver ran down her spine. Her head jerked around, searching for the source of this feeling.

Sensing her sudden unease, Darien grasped her arm. "Serena, what is it?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. But all of a sudden I feel like something's wrong."

Darien's eyes began sweeping the area as well. "A new enemy?"

"I don't think so," she told him. "It doesn't feel evil or dangerous. I just get this feeling that something is not right." Then she looked toward the spot where the outers were sitting and her heart almost stopped. "Where's Rini?"

The two of them ran to the blanket where Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru were, belatedly realizing that Trista was missing as well.

A ball of dread formed in Serena's stomach as she asked her youngest scout, "Where is she, Hotaru?"

Tear-filled, amethyst eyes glistened at her. "She left with Trista during the fireworks while everyone was distracted. She wanted me to give you this." She handed her a pink envelope.

Serena clutched it tightly to her chest. "But why? Why would she sneak off like this without saying goodbye?"

"She thought that it would be easier to leave this way," Michelle replied in her soothing tone. "She said that she knows that you always get upset when she leaves, so she wanted to spare you a teary goodbye this time."

"That rotten little pink haired spore!" Serena exclaimed. "How dare she think that she can take off on me like this without even a wave goodbye! She better not have made that jump yet, because I am going after her, even if I have to find a way into Crystal Tokyo myself! I'm getting my goodbye, dammit!"

She whirled and began running. She knew where Rini would be. There was a clearing on the other side of the park that Trista seemed to favor when opening the path to the time plane. It was fairly well hidden and secluded. And at this time of night that section of the park was usually deserted.

She was moving fast, much faster than she should be, and she knew it. Darien had followed her, and he obviously thought the same thing because he grabbed her arm and hissed, "Slow down, Sere! You're beginning to blur."

She jerked away from him. "I don't care! She's got several minutes head start on us. If we don't hurry we'll miss her!"

Darien did a quick sweep of the immediate area and saw nobody around. So he grabbed Serena again and pulled her behind a large cluster of bushes.

"What are you doing?" she shrieked as she struggled against him.

He gave her a small shake to get her attention. "Just calm down for a moment and transform. Nobody will think that it's strange if they see Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask zipping through the park like a couple of loons."

Realizing that he had a point, she quickly pulled her brooch from her pocket and cried, "Moon Eternal Power!" Normally, she reveled in the feeling of her transformation, but this time she willed it to go fast and she transformed quickly in a flash of light and rush of feathers.

"Okay! Let's go," Darien, now Tuxedo Mask, said as he took her hand in his and they broke from the cover of the bushes side by side in a dead run.

Serena was grateful that he had suggested transforming, because in this form they didn't have to worry about hiding their superhuman abilities. She had no idea how fast they were going, but judging from the slack-jawed looks of surprise she glimpsed on a few peoples' faces as they blew by them, she figured it must be pretty fast.

Juban Park was one of the largest in the city, spanning several acres, but it barely took them a minute to travel from one side of the park to the other. Just as they figured, that area of the park was deserted at this time of night. And as they approached a section that was thick with undergrowth, Tuxedo Mask swooped Sailor Moon up into his arms without breaking stride. Then with a powerful leap, he took to the tree branches.

After traveling several yards in, they could see pink light glowing ahead. "Oh no! We're too late!" Sailor Moon moaned.

"No we're not!" Tuxedo Mask growled as he cleared the last few trees without even touching them to land on the edge of the clearing.

Both Rini and Sailor Pluto spun around at the sound of the thud they made. The pink light faded away.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rini almost wailed.

Sailor Moon wriggled her way out of Tuxedo Mask's arms. "What are we doing here? I think you mean what are you doing here. How could you take off on us like that without a word? I thought you weren't going home until tomorrow."

Rini looked down at the ground as she scuffed her feet. "I just thought it would be better this way. It seems like every time I leave here we both end up crying, Serena, and I didn't want you to be sad this time. So I thought I'd just slip home quietly and everything would be okay."

"Well it's not okay, okay!" Sailor Moon snapped, her transformation fading as she stomped toward her future daughter. "I've gotten used to you popping into my life unexpectedly, and I'm fine with that. But if you think for one moment that I would be okay with you just disappearing on me without even a simple goodbye, then you've got another thing coming, Serenity!"

"Um…" Sailor Pluto began uncertainly. "I think I'll just go ahead to the time gate. Small Lady, you can just use your key to meet me there whenever you are ready." With a puff of smoke and flash of light, she was gone.

Tuxedo Mask detransformed, but remained over to the side, quietly watching the stare-off going on between his future wife and daughter.

Rini finally cracked when she saw the pink envelope still grasped tightly in Serena's hand. "You haven't read it yet?"

Serena sighed. "No, I haven't read it. I haven't had time to even open it. I took off after you the moment I found out where you were going. But if it's that important to you, I will." She reached for the flap.

"No!" Rini cried, stopping her. "I don't want you to read it until after I'm gone, okay. And I'm sorry for trying to sneak away. I just really thought that it would be easier for you."

Serena's irritation evaporated. "I know you did, sweetie. Okay, so I know that I tend to get a little weepy and emotional when you leave, but it's not a bad thing. Yeah, I feel sad when you go away, but it's because I love you so much. If I had my way, I would keep you here all the time. But I know that your true place is with your mom and dad. And besides, one day I'll be with you in the future. So in a way it's a comfort to me to know that I'm always with you, in some form or another."

"Oh, Serena!" Rini almost sobbed as she swiped hastily at her watering eyes. "Now you're going to make me cry!"

Serena choked out a laugh as she pulled the younger girl into a tight hug. "No, Rini. This time neither one of us are going to cry. You have a wonderful vacation with your parents to look forward to, and I'm sure that my future self would be very sad if you didn't go with her. I also have several weeks of summer fun ahead of me. Darien and all of our friends will be with me, so I won't be lonely."

Darien finally stepped forward and spoke up. "I guess the big question is whether you're going to leave now or wait until tomorrow like you originally planned."

Rini pulled away from Serena and scrubbed the few tears that had leaked from her eyes away. "I guess since we've already come this far I may as well go home now. Twelve hours isn't going to make that much of a difference since we'll be sleeping most of the time. So I'll say my goodbyes now."

"We'll miss you," Darien told her as he flicked his wrist to produce a single, deep red rose. He handed it to her. "Have fun on your vacation. And Happy Birthday, princess."

Although she was crying inside, Serena managed to keep her eyes dry. "Yes. Happy Birthday, sweetheart. And try to not give my future self too much grief. She loves you, you know."

"I know," Rini mumbled. Then she launched herself at Serena and Darien to hug them both tightly. "Bye guys! I love you both so much!"

She released them quickly and ran a few feet away where she held up the time key that she wore around her neck. "Great guardian of time, Chronos, please open the way for me and let me return home to the future!"

Pink light exploded around her as she began to float up toward the pink cloud that had appeared overhead. Just before she disappeared into it, she called out, "Serena! Don't forget to open your envelope!"

And then she was gone.

Serena fingered the flap of the pink envelope for a moment before she opened it and pulled out the contents. It was a birthday card. The front of it read – _Mothers are more than just guardians that help protect us and keep us safe. They can be our greatest confidantes and our best friends._

She opened the card to read the inside. _And you are the best mother that anybody could ever wish for. Happy Birthday!_

And underneath the printed words, in Rini's loopy writing, was written, _I mean it. You are the best mother ever. I don't know if or when I'll get to see you again in this time, but I love you, Momma. – Love Always, Your Rini_

The tears that Serena had been trying to hold back rushed forward and spilled over. "Oh, Rini! I love you too!" She hugged the card close to her chest.

Darien looped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "She's so much like you. She has a heart that is full to the brim with love."

Serena giggled as she wiped away her tears. "She's a lot like you too. She has a stubborn streak in her a mile wide and can drive me to the brink of madness with her obstinacy."

He shrugged. "I guess she just got the best of both of us. Now what do you say that we head back, tell the others goodnight, and head home? This has been a long day."

Serena wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close. "That sounds good to me. Lead on, my prince."

* * *

**A/N **So that's it for now. Everybody seems to be settling into their new relationships nicely. As I'm sure you can tell, this story is _extremely _close to wrapping up soon. There are still a few more things that I want to put in, but I'm thinking that perhaps two more chapters and it will be done. I could possibly do it in one, but I don't want to rush the ending too much. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm at the mercy of my muse. But those of you that have read _Lunar Princess _know what's coming. Needless to say, a certain sandy blonde, hazel-eyed guy will be playing a big role in the next chapter. Well, I better run! Please don't forget to drop me those reviews to tell me what you thought. I gobble them up like Serena gobbles cookies! Later gators! Be safe! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	22. Serena & Darien: Relationship Therapists

**A/N **Hey guys! I know I've been forever updating this, and I apologize. I could probably drone on for about ten pages with all of the excuses, but I won't subject you to that. I guess the biggest things that I can blame my delay on is the fact that it is summer and I have been bumming around by the pool, swimming and catching up on books that I haven't had a chance to sit down and read. It has been _extremely _hot here too, and that just makes me feel like my energy has been zapped. I don't do the sun thing much though. I stay in the shade most of the time. (Most of my family jokes that I must be half vampire because I burn so easily and I like to pull late hours.) The only other valid excuse I have is that I have been spending a lot of my writing time working on my original work. I finally got the chance to show the partial rough draft of my novel to someone in the business, and they showed a bit of interest in it. I'm not getting my hopes up, but a girl can dream! I'm not giving up on my fanfics though. I still love my Sailor Moon stories to pieces, and I have more planned. They are great therapy when the novel writing drives me crazy. Now, let's get out those hugs. BIG HUGS TO:

**Atem's Sister Atea**

**saveme57**

**sabina21**

**little princess of mercury**

**Forest Sentry Koneji**

**Wonderwomanbatmanfan**

**Moonprincess998**

**GoldenDragon326**

**KageNoNeko**

**StarryNightt25**

**Angelstar14**

**unlockurdestiny**

**CharmedSerenity3**

**JuliaGulia17**

**nickybluejess**

**TheMoonPrincess110**

**MeganLeBlanc**

**SailorMercuryROCKS**

**KoiGirlPGSM**

**Starmoongoddess**

**PointOfNoReturnxx**

**Helen delia**

**Litalove**

A hundred thousand million billion kajillion thank yous to all of you! Now I'm going to shut up and let you get on with it. I hope you like it. It's got a bit of sadness concerning Andrew, but all of you _LP/GT_ readers knew this was coming.

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 21

Serena and Darien: Relationship Therapists

* * *

"Ooh! I could shoot Darien for making me late! The girls are going to kill me! Especially Raye. She can be so sanctimonious sometimes!" Serena wailed as she pounded down the sidewalk toward the Crown Arcade.

Though she was quite upset at the thought of facing her friends when she was twenty minutes late meeting them for lunch, she could help but smile as she gave herself a mental pat on the back for being able to work one of her new words into a sentence. As part of her plan to become more book smart, she had signed up at a website that e-mailed her a _word of the day_ everyday, along with the definition of that word, and encouraged her to find a way to use it in conversation. _Sanctimonious _had been her word two days before, and this was the first chance that she'd had to use it.

But an increased vocabulary wouldn't help bail her out of trouble with her friends. Well, perhaps it would if she went down on her knees and begged for forgiveness in her most sincere voice. If she made her apology sound really good, they may only inflict bodily harm on her instead of death.

Besides, it wasn't her fault that she was running late. Okay, it wasn't _entirely _her fault. It was mostly that big jerk, yes jerk, Darien's fault! He had known that she'd had this lunch planned for a few days, and yet he'd kept her, um, _occupied_ until she was way late, even by her normal standards.

"Smug, arrogant, sexy jerk!" she muttered as she skidded to a stop at the corner before the arcade and took a second to smooth her windblown hair. Her face was burning, and she knew that it was probably the shade of a cherry tomato, but there was nothing that she could do about that. At least she could straighten her hair so that she would look like she had stuck her finger in a light socket.

She glanced at her reflection in the large window of the drug store to check her appearance and made a few adjustments to the pale pink tank top and the darker pink short skirt she was wearing. Thank Selene for the Luna Pen! She would be running even more behind if she hadn't used it to make herself look presentable when she'd realized how late it had gotten.

She felt a blush spread across her already hot face when she thought back on how she had spent her morning hours. With Darien's departure date looming closer and closer, now only two weeks away, she had been spending every possible moment that she could with him, including most nights. Even on the nights that her father insisted that she remain home, she would only stay until she could hear the sound of his snores from behind his bedroom door. Then she would transform and slip out her window to race across the rooftops to the high-rise apartment building where her prince would be waiting for her. Most of the time, Tuxedo Mask would meet her halfway and sweep her up in his arms to carry her the rest of the way.

Last night, however, her parents thought that she had been staying with Lita, so she and Darien had spent the entire evening together. He was a surprisingly handy man in the kitchen, so he had prepared a simple, but very tasty meal for them. Afterward, he had turned on some soft music and opened up a bottle of wine. As a rule, Serena usually didn't drink much. She'd found out by accident on a couple of occasions that alcohol tended to make her act extremely giddy. But the atmosphere had been so relaxing and subdued that she had enjoyed sipping slowly on a couple of glasses over the course of the night.

She and Darien had spent hours talking about nothing and everything, laughing over some of their confrontations when they first met and discussing all of their mutual friends. A few times he had pulled her to her feet to dance with him. But at the end of the night he had carried her to his bed where he had made love to her so tenderly that it had brought tears to her eyes.

This morning he had woken her with breakfast in bed. She had groaned at first about being woken up at all, but Darien Shields could be very persuasive when he wanted to be, so eventually she had given up on sleep and sat up to enjoy the food. He had insisted on feeding her some of the bites himself, and she'd found something incredibly intimate about the act.

So between the food and the touching, which morphed into lingering kisses, one thing led to another and another. Then the next thing she knew, she was looking at the clock and seeing that she was supposed to be meeting her best friends that very minute.

Feeling a bit more composed; she quickly marched down the sidewalk toward the arcade, mentally preparing herself for the scolding that was sure to come. She took a deep breath as the double doors slid open, sending out a cold gust of air-conditioned air, and then she stepped inside.

"Hey, Serena!" Andrew called out from his spot behind the counter.

She beamed a bright smile as she walked over to him. "Hey, Drew! How are things going?"

Her sandy haired friend was grinning so widely that it was amazing that his face didn't break. "Things are great! Tomorrow's the day! Rita will be home for good. I'm so excited that I can't stay still."

"So I noticed," Serena giggled as she saw that he had been absently wiping the already spotless counter with a towel the entire time he had been talking. "Can I get a triple chocolate shake, please?"

"Sure thing!" he chirped, tossing the towel aside. "The girls are waiting for you in the back booth. You can go ahead and join them and I'll bring your shake to you."

"Oh, okay," she mumbled unenthusiastically. She really wasn't looking forward to this, but she may as well go ahead and get it over with. So she reluctantly turned her feet in the direction of the booth that the scouts had claimed as _theirs _and shuffled that way, keeping her eyes on the floor so she wouldn't have to see the accusation in their eyes right away.

She might be avoiding her sense of sight, but there was nothing she could do to block out her hearing. When she was what she guessed was about ten feet away from the booth, a low voice hissed, "Well it's about time, Meatball Head. Where the hell have you been? You are so dead!"

Serena sighed heavily and looked up into a smoldering pair of furious violet eyes. "It's nice to see you too, Raye."

"Nice my ass!" the priestess snapped. "What the hell is the big idea keeping us waiting like this? You invite us to meet you, and then you have the nerve to not show up on time. You're lucky that I don't deep fry you!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Lita exclaimed, grabbing Raye's arm when it looked like the raven-haired girl just might lunge out of the booth. "Chill out just a bit, Pyro. Geez!"

"I'm sorry I'm late," Serena began gushing as she slid in on the opposite side next to Mina and Amy. "I really didn't mean to run this far behind, but I was with Darien and time just got away from me."

"I bet it did," Mina snickered evilly.

"Hmph!" Amy sniffed daintily. "You're one to talk, Mina. You only just arrived here a few minutes before Serena."

Mina waved a dismissive hand. "I had a hard time deciding what to wear. And then Artemis was being a grouch, and I had to deal with him. By the time I picked out shoes and accessories and did my makeup I was completely out of time."

Serena tilted her head as she studied her babbling fellow blonde. There was something different about Mina today. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it. After a minute, she figured it out. "All of that, and you didn't have time to do your hair? I've never seen you wear it down in public before."

It was true. The signature red bow that the scout of love always used to partially pull back her hair was missing, leaving her gleaming golden strands to fall heavily around her.

Mina suddenly looked nervous, but she smiled brightly. "Oh, um, I thought I'd try out a different look. Do you girls think I look older with my hair down?"

Lita shrugged. "I don't know if I would say older, but it's definitely different. So why the change all of a sudden?"

"I just felt like it," Mina muttered.

"Okay, so Mina wanted a change. Can we please order some lunch now?" Raye asked in her usual brusque way. "I have to get back to the shrine soon."

Despite the big breakfast she'd had a couple of hours before, Serena's stomach grumbled at the mention of food. But she pushed those selfish thoughts aside as she concentrated on Mina. Something was wrong. She just knew it. Her _friend-in-trouble_ radar was pinging all over the place.

She took Mina's hand in hers, surprised to feel it shaking, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Mina, what's wrong?"

Mina's head whipped back and forth. "Nothing. I just…didn't sleep well last night."

Lita chuckled. "Kunzite keep you up all night? Girl, you better start locking those balcony doors of yours."

Amy nodded. "That's good advice. School will be starting back in about a month, and you'll need your rest."

Raye tilted her head, looking a bit confused. "I thought you stayed at the penthouse last night. You were there when Jed and I came in."

"Everybody, stop!" Serena demanded suddenly. The whole time that the other girls had been talking, Mina's fingers had been tightening around hers. Now it felt like the bones in her hand were beginning to grind together.

"Mina, did you and Kunzite have a fight?" she asked gently.

Mina's pink-glossed lower lip trembled violently as she sucked in a shaky breath. "Yes…no…I don't know exactly." Then she burst into tears and laid her head on the table. "I think he's embarrassed of me!" she wailed.

The other four girls shot startled looks at each other over the sobbing blonde's head. Kunzite…embarrassed of Mina? That was impossible. Sure, the large, platinum haired man could be a hard, intimidating figure. But he was crazy in love with Mina, and it showed whenever he was around her. He wasn't an overly demonstrative person when he was around others, but everyone could see his feelings for Mina in the looks he gave her or in the way he would touch her when she was near.

"Oh, Mina! You have to be mistaken," Serena said as sweetly as she could as she rubbed Mina's back softly. "Kunzite loves you more than anything in the world. You know that. Now why don't you tell us what happened?"

Mina lifted her head to look around at her four closest friends with wet, red-rimmed blue eyes that were smeared with running eyeliner and mascara. She sniffled hard. "Okay. I'll tell you."

Lita rummaged in her purse for a moment before pulling out a tissue and a small compact mirror. She passed them across the table. "Here, girlfriend. Clean yourself up a bit first. It'll make you feel better."

Andrew wandered over with Serena's milkshake while Mina was mopping herself up. As he set the glass in front of her, he shot her a questioning look.

Serena shook her head slightly at him to let him know that it was just girl stuff.

His hazel eyes lingered on the clearly distraught Mina for a moment before he shrugged and asked in his most charming tone, "So what will it be today, ladies? All of your usual goodies?"

Heads nodded all around, except for Mina, who grumbled, "I don't want anything."

Serena slapped a hand over Mina's mouth and then turned her brightest smile on Andrew. "Yes, Drew. We will have the usual, burgers all around along with an order of cheese fries and onion rings. And Mina here could use a brownie fudge milkshake ASAP."

Andrew shot her a wink and chuckled. "Yes ma'am! I'll get right on that." Then he scurried away.

Mina managed to twist her head free from Serena's grip and glared at her. "I said I didn't want anything."

Serena lifted her chin regally. "And I overrode you. I know how to deal with an emotional crisis. Believe me, food and sugar are definitely in order here."

"Well who died and made you queen?" Raye grumbled under her breath. When the other four pairs of eyes swung to her in astonishment and she thought about what she'd just said, she groaned, "Oh, come on, you guys! You know I didn't mean it like that. It's a figure of speech."

"Anyway," Serena replied in a louder tone after she'd shot Raye with an evil eye and it had been returned. "Tell us what's wrong, Mina. I'm asking as your friend, not your princess or your future queen."

Mina drew in a steadying breath. "Okay, it's like this. Kunzite and I were talking last night and he mentioned something about this brunch business meeting that he was supposed to go to this morning with a potential client. I didn't think anything about it and I asked him if he wanted me to go with him, because I've gone with him a few other times when he's met people for dinner or drinks to discuss business. Those men usually bring their wives or girlfriends with them too, and while some of them can be pretty snotty, I've met a few nice people and had some fun."

The other girls nodded to show that they were paying attention. After breaking free of the acting world, Mina had enjoyed living life outside of the spotlight. True, the sailor scouts had been in the news quite a bit over the past few years, but they always avoided the press and, with the exception of perhaps Andrew, nobody knew their real identities. However, Mina could be a bit of a social butterfly at times, and she had experience fitting into the fanciest of settings. It was no wonder that Kunzite would invite her along to some of his business gatherings. She was a perfect complement to him.

Andrew returned with the requested milkshake and set it in front of Mina before beating a hasty retreat back to the counter without a word. The last thing he wanted was to get caught up in whatever those girls had brewing.

At Serena's pointed look, Mina took a dutiful sip of the rich milkshake, and she had to admit that it tasted phenomenal. After a few more sips, she continued.

"So anyway, I asked him if he wanted me to tag along, and he got all funny. I've never seen him act like that before. He was stammering and stuttering about how he didn't think it was such a good idea for me to go this time…yada, yada, yada. And I would have been fine with that, but he kept going on and on. I finally realized that something was up, so I asked him point blank if he was going to see another woman. It was the only thing that I could think of that would make him act so strange, so I figured that he must be cheating on me."

Jaws dropped around the table.

"You didn't," Amy whispered.

Lita whistled softly, "Way to stand up to him."

"Did he own up to it?" Raye demanded harshly.

"Raye!" Serena cried in exasperation.

"What?" Raye asked innocently. "Men are scum for the most part."

Lita nodded. "It's sad but true. Some are better than others, but men are still men."

"You two aren't helping the situation," Amy cautioned them sternly.

"Everybody just be quiet and let Mina finish!" Serena commanded, her voice ringing with an undertone of authority.

Mina dabbed her eyes with the already damp tissue before shooting glares at Raye and Lita. "No, he didn't _own up to it_. In fact, he denied the accusation and got angry that I would even think that. Then we both calmed down and he told me how much he loved me. So then I asked him why he was acting the way he was if he claimed to love me. And do you know what he said?"

"What?" her four friends chorused in unison.

She burst into tears again as she wailed, "He told me that he didn't want to take me with him because he was meeting some grumpy, old-fashioned men at some stuffy country club, and he didn't think that they would approve of him bringing such a young girl with hiimmm…"

The only sound at the table for the next minute was the sound of the heartbroken blonde's sobs as she laid her head back down on the table and wept into her arms.

Raye finally broke the silence with a growl. "Kunzite is toast!"

Lita pounded her fists together. "Amen, sister! We'll french fry his ass!"

"No!" Mina exclaimed as her head shot up. "Neither one of you will touch him, or you'll have to deal with me. Whatever issue he has going on is his problem, so let him handle it. I think he already knows that he screwed up because I walked out on him last night, after I told him that I was going home because I didn't want to embarrass him by having such a _child _sleeping in his bed. I went home, locked up tight, and turned my phone off."

"You go girl," Lita said approvingly.

"So are you guys Splits-ville for good?" Raye asked eagerly.

Mina looked aghast. "Of course not! He is my soul mate. I couldn't cut him out of my life any more than I could chop my arm off. But I'm going to hold my own in this relationship. I believe in equal amounts of give and take. I guess I'm just madder at myself than I am anything. I should have realized that the age difference between us would become an issue sooner or later."

"Oh, Mina!" Amy sighed. "You aren't wearing your hair down in an attempt to look older just to make Kunzite feel better about your relationship, are you?"

"No comment," Mina murmured as she twisted a strand of her hair around her finger.

Serena felt a swell of righteous indignation on behalf of her friend, and something inside her snapped. She turned sideways on the booth seat and took Mina's face between her hands.

"Now you listen to me, Venus," she began in a firm, but soft tone. "You are a strong and loving woman, and you should never try to be anyone other than who you are. Kunzite knows the real you, and I know that he loves you dearly. Every relationship has their share of bumps in the road. Times are different now than what they were in the past, and it may take your general a bit of time to come to terms with all of the changes. The important thing for you to do is to stand by him and be supportive. I am not saying that you should let him run the show, but he needs to know that you are with him every step of the way. He has made great strides into the modern world, but it may take him a bit longer to completely shed his Silver Millennium mentality."

Mina huffed a laugh. "I don't think he'll ever completely get rid of it. It's just part of who he is. Now, can you do me a favor, Serena?"

"What?" Serena asked.

"Could you please let go of my cheeks? I'm starting to feel like a fish-face. And while you're at it, you might want to put Serenity back under lock and key before somebody notices that your forehead is shining like a floodlight," the other blonde snickered.

Serena snapped back to reality and clapped a hand to her forehead, which she could now feel was slightly warm where her crescent moon had appeared. "Crap! I didn't mean for that to happen!" After a few deep breaths she felt the symbol disappear.

Raye chuckled evilly. "Way to go, Meatball Head. I don't know whether I should applaud you for your inspiring speech or curtsey."

"Shove it, Pyro!" Serena grumbled as she took her hand away from her forehead. "It is gone, isn't it?"

"It is," Lita confirmed. "But that was way weird for a minute."

Amy's hand twitched toward her purse, like she was dying to pull out her Mercury computer. "Has that ever happened to you before?"

Serena shook her head. "No. Well, there was one time…but that doesn't matter. Anyway, Mina, just be yourself. Kunzite will come around."

"You're right," Mina agreed with a firm nod. Then she rummaged in her purse until she pulled out a hairbrush and her red ribbon. "And right now I'm going to go and pull my hair back before the food gets here. It's starting to get on my nerves hanging down in my face like this. Serena, come with me."

She nudged Serena out of the booth and then grabbed her hand to pull her behind her toward the arcade bathroom.

Behind the counter, Andrew shook his head as he watched them. "Women! I'll never understand them."

His sister, Lizzy, snickered as she walked by and heard him. "And you never will, brother dear. We women are complex creatures."

"That's why I'm glad I've found one woman and stuck with her. The dating scene is way too chaotic nowadays. It's far easier to concentrate on one woman than it is to try and handle several," he quipped back at her.

She snorted. "Yeah, right! What do you know about dating? Other than a couple of short relationships back when you first started high school, Rita is the only woman that you've ever been with."

He grinned as he turned to pick up an order from the window into the kitchen. "And I'm a much better man for it."

* * *

"So she walked out on you? Just like that?" Darien asked as he pulled two cans of soda out of his refrigerator and closed the door. Crossing the kitchen, he set one of the cans in front of the severely depressed looking man who was sitting at his breakfast bar.

Kunzite nodded morosely as he closed a hand around the cold, condensation covered can. "Yes. I don't really blame her it though. I deserved it after what I said to her. I didn't mean for what I said to come out sounding like that. It just happened."

Darien let out a whistle from between his teeth as he popped the top on his can. He took a long swig before he said, "I guess I can see where you are coming from. You're twenty-four and Mina is seventeen. It's not exactly robbing the cradle in my opinion, since she's almost of age, but that is still an almost seven year age difference between you. There are only three years between Serena and I, but we've gotten our share of condescending looks over the years, especially when she was younger. A lot of people didn't approve of me dating a fourteen year old when I was seventeen and in college."

"Her age doesn't bother me at all!" Kunzite growled suddenly. "It doesn't make a difference to me what age she is. I would love her just the same."

"But you just said that you told her…" Darien began.

"I know what I said!" Kunzite almost yelled as he practically slammed the can of soda down on the countertop. "It wasn't what I meant though. I was just trying to put her off of wanting to go with me, and it was the first thing that popped into my head. I was trying to protect her."

Darien rested his elbows on the bar and fixed his former head general with a very confused look. "Okay. Maybe you should tell me the whole story, because you lost me somewhere. What were you trying to protect her from?"

Kunzite sighed and shoved an agitated hand through his platinum hair. After a moment he lifted his troubled, light gray eyes to meet the calm, dark blue ones of his friend and former prince.

He considered himself to be close to his fellow generals, well, as close as he could be anyway. He didn't let people into his life easily; much less let his guard down around them. In fact, until he'd found himself in the modern world there had been exactly two people in his life that had known the real him…Minako and Endymion.

That was why it had been so easy for him to bond with Mina. She was vastly different from Minako in some ways, but in others it was plain to see that a millennium hadn't changed her soul one bit. And in the past couple of months he had enjoyed re-establishing that connection with her. There had been many nights that they had done nothing more than spend hours talking together, learning each other all over again. But he couldn't talk to her about this, not when she was at the heart of his confusion.

Feeling like he was at the end of his rope, he'd turned to Darien. Granted, the relationship between himself and the slightly younger man was nowhere near the one that he had shared with Endymion in the past. It had been kind of hard to completely reclaim their former friendship with everything that had been going on in their lives lately, but the connection was still there. Darien was a bit more laid-back than Endymion had been, but he was amazingly similar to his past incarnation.

He smirked at the dark haired med-student. "You know, I think this is the first conversation that we've had alone since I came back."

Darien tilted his head in thought. "I think you might be right. It seems like every time we are together there are at least three other people around."

Kunzite chuckled. "That might not be such a bad thing. My memories of the past may be muddled, but I seem to remember you and I getting into our fair share of trouble."

Darien snorted. "Not as much as Jed and Neph did. I don't remember a lot clearly either, but I do remember that they were constantly in trouble for pulling pranks and such. We, at least, tried to keep a lower profile. But we're veering off the subject here. We're supposed to be talking about you and Mina."

A groan rumbled in Kunzite's throat. "It's nothing really. Now that I think about it, I probably made a big deal out of nothing."

"Unh, unh, unh," Darien tsked as he straightened up to his full height. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned a hip against the counter as he arched a brow at the platinum haired man. "You came here because you needed to talk, so talk."

"All right! All right!" Kunzite exclaimed. "But could you not stand there like that, giving me that haughty look, your highness? It's really disconcerting when you do that. I feel like I'm back in the Silver Millennium and I need to be bowing to you instead of telling you my problems when you do. It's hard to keep the present and the past separate when your tone and expression are a dead ringer for Endymion's."

But Darien didn't relax his stance, and he continued to stare expectantly at the general. "You never bowed before me unless protocol demanded it. Even I remember that much. We were always equals in my mind and I saw you as a friend. We talked with each other about everything back then, and I see no reason why it should be any different now. So spill. What's got you so worked up?"

Kunzite flicked the tab of his soda can with his thumbnail a few times before he heaved a sigh and launched into his tale. "Okay, so my first major business project is coming to an end, it was just a simple remodel and bringing everything up to code anyway. I've already got buyers for the buildings lined up and everything. So I decided that I needed to start looking around for my next venture. I heard through the grapevine that this one building was about to go on the market, so I sent Nephrite and Jadeite to check it out. They reported back that the structure is sound, but that the inside is going to need extensive renovations, which is just what we were looking for. It's in a prime location and it's huge with tons of potential. Since it needs so much work we figured that we could get a great bargain on it, so I called the owners and set up a time to discuss it."

He rattled off the name of a well-known company and Darien nodded. "Of course I've heard of them. They are big around these parts. They used to own several buildings around Azabu and Juuban, but then they built their new headquarters closer to the bay and airport and began selling off the property around here. I believe it's three older gentlemen that run the company."

"It is," Kunzite confirmed. "I met with them last week at their office and we had a long discussion. They even mentioned that they had a few more properties that they were thinking of selling, and that really caught my interest. The meeting ran over, so they invited me to lunch with them and their wives. Everything was nice and casual. The women were a little nosy about my personal life, asking if I was married or had a girlfriend, and I just told them that I was seeing someone and left it at that. Then the ladies left to go shopping and the gentlemen asked me to join them in a drink at a nearby hotel bar. That's when things got weird."

Darien had long since lost his regal posture and was lounging against the counter again, but his expression was still sharp. "What happened? They're not into anything kinky, are they? Or part of some kind of organized crime ring?"

Kunzite shook his head. "No. They're not mobsters or anything. They're pretty straightforward when it comes to business. But the kinky thing…that's another story. We had barely touched our drinks when these three girls joined us and the men introduced them as being their girlfriends. I kept a straight face, but it shocked the hell out of me. Not one of those girls looked a day over twenty, and those men are all in their sixties! I stuck around for a few minutes and then made an excuse to leave. By that point I figured that if they wanted to do business with me they would call. I just didn't want to get wrapped up in the middle of their screwed up social lives."

"So they called?" Darien prompted after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah," Kunzite grumbled. "I got the call yesterday inviting me to brunch this morning at their club to finalize the deal. I was a bit uncomfortable when I found out that the girlfriends were going to be there, but I figured I could handle it long enough to cinch the deal. Then the old man I was talking to told me to bring my girlfriend along. There was no way I was going to drag Mina into that, so I made up something about her being busy. Then do you know what that bastard had the nerve to say?"

Darien shrugged. "I don't have a clue."

Kunzite's normally tanned face was quickly turning red as he spewed, "He actually had the balls to say that it was a shame that she wouldn't be coming because he had seen the two of us out together one night and he'd been looking forward to getting to know a beauty like that a little bit better."

Darien's can made a _clunk _sound as he set it down hard. "When you say getting to know her better, do you think he meant _getting to KNOW her_?"

"I don't know exactly what he meant," Kunzite snarled. "I just knew that there was no way that I was going to let Mina get within a mile of those lecherous old perverts. I wasn't even going to tell her about the meeting at all, but somehow it came up and she asked if she could go. Normally I don't have a problem with her tagging along because she usually works her charm on people to my advantage. But when she seemed interested in going, I panicked. My mind went blank and I blurted out the first stupid excuse that popped onto my tongue. I didn't mean for it to come out sounding the way it did though. I just thought that perhaps the thought of a stuffy meeting would turn her off with old men. But the words came out wrong and made it sound like I was attacking her age. By the time I realized what I'd said, she was gone."

"Why didn't you just tell her the truth? She's a big girl," Darien asked rationally.

"Like you never attempt to hide things from Serena to keep her from worrying!" Kunzite snapped back, and then grimaced. "Sorry about that."

Darien waved it off. "No big deal. It's true anyway. I've been protecting and coddling Serena from everything since the day I met her…which she hates. But recently I have had to come to terms with the fact that she is not a little girl anymore, and I've been trying to be as open and honest with her as I can. It hasn't been easy, and it goes against my instincts to tell her anything that might make her sad or upset, but the honesty between us has brought us even closer together."

"I know what you're saying," Kunzite agreed. "And it's not anything that I haven't already told myself. I tried to tell her the truth last night, but she'd turned her phone off and her house was locked up tighter than a high-security prison. I couldn't get a peep out of her. I tried again this morning before I went to the meeting, but still nothing."

"You still went to the meeting?" Darien asked in astonishment.

Kunzite grinned smugly. "You're damn right I did! And I went in with my battle face on. I was polite, but I didn't get into all of their chatting and drinking. And then when we finally got around to business, I went in for the kill. I brought up every tiny problem with the building and threw it in their faces until I talked them way down from their original price. I practically stole it from them, but it doesn't bother me. They deserved it. And it's not like it's going to hurt those rich, womanizing assholes any."

Darien chuckled. "Remind me to never make you mad. But then again, I always knew that you were a formidable opponent."

"I don't like to lose," Kunzite stated simply. "I'm still a warrior. It's just that now I fight with my checkbook instead of a sword."

"A man wielding money can be ten times scarier than a man with a sword," Darien laughed. "I should know. I've been letting Drew handle my investments for the last couple of years. And thanks to him, my trust fund has been doubled many, many times over."

Kunzite folded his hands behind his head. "So if you have all of this fantastic wealth, why are you working so hard to become a doctor? You could just kick back and enjoy the high life until the time comes for you to be king."

Darien shot him another _Endymion _look. "Can you honestly see me sitting around playing the part of a useless rich guy? Come on, Kunzite. You know me better than that. I'd be bored in no time. And medicine is just sort of a natural calling for me."

"You have a point," Kunzite agreed. "Despite being a prince, you never acted spoiled and pampered like a lot of those other weak pansies at court did. You were always more of a hands-on kind of guy, and you weren't afraid to jump into the middle of anything and get your hands dirty. You were also a hell of a fighter."

Darien appeared to be slightly embarrassed by the praise. "I don't know about all of that. But you obviously remember a bit more about the Silver Millennium than I do, so I guess I'll just have to take your word for it."

He paused for a moment then and tilted his head to the side like he was listening to something that only he could hear. His eyes drifted shut for a moment before they popped back open, looking a little startled. "Serenity?" he barely breathed.

"What?" Kunzite asked in confusion.

Darien shook his head like he was coming out of a daze. "It's nothing. I just had this weird feeling for a moment. It was almost like Serena was using some of the power of the Silver Crystal. But it passed quickly, so I must have imagined it."

Kunzite gave him a concerned look. "Do you need to go check on her and make sure that she's okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine. She was just here a half an hour ago," Darien replied, trying to sound like he wasn't worried.

"Uh huh," Kunzite muttered, unconvinced. "I'm having a bit of a hard time believing that since you look like you're about to run out the door at any second."

"What do you…" Darien began, and then his voice trailed off as he looked down at his hands. He had grabbed up his keys and his cell phone off the counter without any conscious thought and had already half turned toward the door. He grinned sheepishly at his friend. "Oh."

Kunzite waved him off. "It's okay. I was done spilling my guts anyway. Go! Find your princess. Tell Serena I said hi."

Darien studied him for a moment before his look turned calculating. "Why don't you come with me and tell her yourself. She was heading to the arcade to meet the girls for lunch. Even if she is upset, Mina would never miss out on a lunch date with her friends. In fact, she probably welcomed the opportunity to talk to the other girls."

For one of the few times in his existence, the stoic general looked wary. "I don't know."

"Oh, come on," Darien told him. "This could be the prime chance for you to catch her and clear the air between you guys."

Well, Kunzite hadn't risen to the position of head general of the Earth's royal army at an early age by being a coward. "Fine! You're on! Since when did you get to be so smart about women and relationships?"

Darien chuckled as he led him out the door of his apartment. "Serena may not always be the best, academically, but she has an uncanny knack for being able to listen to people and give them sound advice about their problems. I guess being around her the past few years has rubbed off on me more than I knew."

* * *

"So, how do I look?" Mina asked as she turned away from her reflection in the mirror above the sinks in the arcade restroom.

"Absolutely like yourself," Serena praised her triumphantly. "I have never been as glad to see that red bow in your hair as I am right now. It makes you more…_you._ Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with changing your appearance, but I think it's important to make those changes for the right reasons. It's fine if you want to make those changes for yourself, but you should never change how you look or act just to make someone else happy."

Mina grinned as she turned back to the mirror to touch up the makeup that had been washed away by her earlier tears. She caught her friend's eye in the reflection. "So when did you get to be so smart? I'm usually the one handing out love advice."

Serena shrugged as she leaned against the wall. "I wouldn't say that I am smart. I've just had a lot of personal experiences. My hairstyle alone has given me enough grief over the years. When I was in elementary school there were several kids that used to pick on me about it. And, of course, Sammy was my number one tormentor at home. But I loved being unique, and I never once thought of changing the way I looked…until I met a certain someone."

Mina smacked her lips as she finished applying gloss. "Ah, let me guess. You're talking about a certain dark haired, princely stud with a sometimes dry sense of humor."

"He's not that bad!" Serena protested with a roll of her eyes. "But he was pretty relentless with his teasing when we first met. I usually let the remarks about my grades or my eating habits roll off of me without letting it bother me too much. But my hair seemed to be his top topic for his taunts. I don't know why, but there was something about him picking on my hair that made it hurt worse than when anyone else did it. I admit that I even got a bit depressed and started thinking that maybe I should change my image. Then Darien and I got into a pretty big argument one day, and he told me that he thought my hairstyle made me look like a pre-schooler. I got really mad at him then and yelled at him that I was going to go chop my hair off short and dye it brown just so I wouldn't annoy him anymore."

"Whoa," Mina murmured as she began placing her brush and cosmetics back in her purse. "How did he handle that?"

Serena giggled. "It was kind of sweet actually. Although I'm still convinced to this day that Andrew made him do it. He chased me down after I stomped out of the arcade and caught up with me a couple of blocks away. He pulled me to a stop, and then just stood there for about two whole minutes in complete silence. I wasn't going to speak to him, so I didn't say anything either. Finally, he muttered out this jumbled apology. Then he really threw me for a loop by telling me that my hair was fine the way it was and that I shouldn't change a thing about it as long as I was happy with it. Then he hurried off, leaving me in complete shock. I had never in a million years thought that I would get a compliment _and _an apology from Darien Jerk-face Shields, especially all in the same day."

"Now you get compliments from him all the time," Mina laughed. "The guy is way far gone on you, and everybody knows it."

"Yeah, talk about a major change from when we first met," Serena muttered. "The point is that Darien was the person that taught me that you shouldn't have to change for anyone. All that matters is that you're happy with yourself. It was actually the first nice thing he ever said to me. That was just a couple of days before we met you."

Mina flashed her a sympathetic smile. The time immediately before and after she had joined her sister scouts had been an emotionally trying time for all of them, especially Serena. Recovering the Silver Crystal and remembering who she and Darien were had been bad enough alone, and having the newly remembered prince kidnapped practically from her arms had simply added fuel to the fire. The following weeks had been hell.

And she'd had just as much craziness in her personal life going on as Serena had. She had spent far more time in her life in Europe than she had in her native country, and then suddenly she'd found herself living full-time in Japan, away from both of her parents, and with no other companion other than Artemis. The fight with Ace and the partial recovery of her memories had still been looming over her like a storm cloud, but she had jumped headfirst into the fight with no hesitation…except for the fraction of a second that she had paused when she'd seen the brainwashed Kunzite. Seeing him so soon after Ace…Danburite…Adonis…whatever name you wanted to call him…had made the prophecy that she would never find true love had knocked her for a loop.

"Mina? You okay?" Serena's voice broke through her reverie.

She snapped out of it and shook her head with a laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about how I wish I had been around back when you and Darien didn't get along. I've always heard that you two put on a heck of a show."

Serena laughed as well. "I don't know about that. But I guess we used to draw a crowd. Andrew claims that he paid for half of his car with the money he earned off of betting on us. Of course he does have a tendency to over-exaggerate."

"And people call me a drama queen," Mina sighed as she gave her hair one final fluff.

The bathroom door swung open forcefully as Lita stalked in. "Okay, bathroom hogs, I was trying to be nice and give you two blondes your space for your gossiping or whatever, but I sucked down two sodas while waiting for everyone to get here and I've got to go."

She rushed into one of the stalls and slammed the door behind her.

Serena and Mina stared at the door, and then turned to look questioningly at each other before bursting into hysterical giggles. They were still laughing a minute later when Lita came out of the stall.

The brunette tried to scowl at them, but ended up grinning instead. "So what's up? Have you two managed to solve all of the world's problems yet?" she asked as she began washing her hands in one of the sinks.

"We're taking it one step at a time," Serena replied humorously. "What about you? Do you have any problems that need airing? You and Nephrite doing okay?"

"We're doing great," Lita replied as she reached to pull a few paper towels from the dispenser on the wall to dry her hands. "I would say that we are perfect, but that would be lying. You guys know that both of us have a bit of a temper, so we do bicker from time to time."

"But I bet making up is a lot of fun," Mina drawled, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Lita blushed all the way to the roots of her hair. "That's my business."

Mina waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, go ahead and play the modesty card. I don't need you to tell me the details to know that you and your hunkster are doing the down and dirty. You spend about as many nights at the penthouse as I do. Amy and Raye are no angels either. Now I think I'll go check and see if Andrew has brought us our lunch yet. I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon, and now I'm starving."

With those words, she sailed out the door.

Lita shook her head. "Well she seems to be back to normal."

"She just needed a little pep talk," Serena chuckled. "So are you and Nephrite really okay?"

"Oh yeah," Lita insisted. "He has a few annoying habits that I wish he would get rid of, but they're nothing I can't live with. Well, except one. He likes to hang out in the kitchen when I cook, which I don't mind at all. I love having company when I'm cooking. But he has this awful habit of sticking his fingers into things to taste them, and I'm trying to break him of it. I don't mind him doing it so much when I'm cooking just for us, but I can't serve food to my friends after he's had his fingers all in it. It's disgusting!"

Serena shrugged. "Why don't you just slap his hand? Heaven knows you've done it to me enough times over the years."

Lita's blush returned in full force. "I've tried that, but the problem is that he seems to like it. Whenever I do it he always makes some Jadeite-worthy comment about me getting physical with him. And then one thing leads to another and…well, you get the picture."

Serena had to swallow a laugh and fought to keep her expression somber. She might be able to laugh later at her normally rash friend's embarrassment, but now did not seem like the best time for it.

"You just need to be honest with him," she told Lita in as level a voice as possible. "I'm sure once he knows that the lack of sanitation bothers you he'll make an attempt to stop stealing tastes from whatever you're cooking."

Lita's rush of breath blew up her bangs. "I'm sure you're right, Serena. I'm just still trying to figure out the ends and outs of this relationship thing. It's sorta new territory for me."

"I know," Serena commiserated. "But you two are great together. You'll figure it out."

Lita grinned. "You are so right. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I never thought that I would find a guy that I would feel so comfortable with. But Nephrite's the one."

The bathroom door opened a bit to let Amy's blue haired head pop in. "You guys, you might want to get back out here. Raye is literally about to explode, if you know what I mean. I don't think she's very happy about everyone running off to hide."

"I'm not hiding!" Serena exclaimed.

The bathroom door was suddenly pushed the rest of the way open to reveal a seriously fuming Raye. "The hell you aren't! First you're a half an hour late getting here, and now you've been holed up in here for at least ten minutes. If I'd known that I was going to come to this lunch and not actually get to really see you I would have just stayed at home."

Amy smirked happily. "I told you guys. An explosion is imminent."

"Can it, Glacier-girl!" Raye snarled. "You know, I think I liked you better before you were getting laid. You were nowhere near as giggly and perky as you are now."

Amy's face turned a bright shade of pink. "At least I don't fight with my boyfriend all the time the way you do. Sometimes I think you get some kind of sick pleasure out of picking on Jadeite."

"I am _so_ not getting in the middle of this. I think I'll just join Mina and see if our lunch has come," Lita murmured as she squeezed past her two friends in the doorway.

"Coward," Serena muttered. Then she raised her voice. "Knock it off, you two!"

The glaring girls blinked hard before turning to look at her.

"Much better," she said smugly. "Would you guys like to step into my office? That's what I'm starting to feel like today, a shrink. But I must not be a very good one if the best office I can get is a bathroom. I may not have a couch for you to lay on, but my door is open if you have any problems that you would like to spill."

That made even Raye laugh. "The only problem I have is the perverts in my life. But if you seriously want to hear me drone on about how Gramps and Jed are nearly impossible to deal with when they are together, I'd rather we do it over burgers and shakes. What do you say?"

"Sounds good to me," Serena agreed as she looped an arm through each of her friends' as they made their way back toward the main part of the arcade. "What about you, Amy? How are things going with Zoicite? I haven't seen much of him lately."

Amy beamed a proud smile. "He's doing good. He's just been so busy since he started his job at the hospital. They're still a bit understaffed, so he's been pulling a lot of long shifts. I miss him sometimes, but he's really enjoying the work and I'm happy for him."

The three of them ran into Lita as soon as they stepped into the arcade. The tall brunette's eyes were wide as she gushed, "There you are! I was just coming to get you."

"Why? What's wrong?" Serena asked in concern.

Lita shrugged. "Not exactly sure, but Darien is here looking for you. He looked like he has something on his mind. But that's not the big news…that is." She pointed toward their table.

The three girls followed her finger and then gasped at what they saw.

Kunzite was sitting next to Mina in their booth, and he had his arms wrapped around her and was holding her close while she buried her face in his chest. That alone was unusual because the quiet, stoic general ordinarily avoided showing affection while in a public place. But his emotions were plain to see now. The expression on his face was tender as he gently stroked Mina's long golden hair and bent down to murmur words in her ear that only she could hear.

"Well when did that happen?" Serena wondered out loud.

Lita shook her head. "Not sure. I came back from the bathroom, and there he was. He must have snuck in while we were all gone. They weren't quite that close though when I walked in. Kunzite was talking and Mina looked really mad, but then he said something to her and she just…folded."

"They must have worked out their problem from last night," Amy murmured.

"Yeah, yeah!" Raye snapped. "So everything is all peachy in paradise once more. But if they are going to continue being so lovey-dovey they can take it someplace else. My burger is on that table and it's calling my name. I refuse to try and enjoy my lunch with the two of them being mushy right across from me. Thank god I know that Kunzite is too much of a stick in the mud to get into exhibitionism. This place would be flowing in vomit from a lot of lost lunches if people had to be subjected to the two of them getting down and dirty on the table."

"Raye!" Amy exclaimed in horror, her face tinged slightly green. "I think we could do without the imagery since we are about to eat."

Raye snorted. "Who would have ever thought that someone who wants to be a doctor would have such a weak stomach? You need to toughen up a little, Amy."

"I don't have a weak stomach!" Amy protested. "I just don't happen to like envisioning disgusting images in my head when I am trying to eat."

Lita snickered. "Well if we don't want to be subjected to seeing disgusting things, we better get back to our table. Kunzite might be a cool customer in public, but I don't put anything past Mina. If we wait too long she's liable to climb in his lap."

"You guys go ahead. I'll be with you in a minute," Serena told them. Then she headed toward the counter where she could see Darien talking with Andrew.

"Did you miss me already, or did you just feel like spying on my girl-lunch?" she giggled as she reached the stool where he was sitting and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"There you are!" he sighed in what sounded like relief. "Of course I missed you already, but I would never stoop to spying on your all-girl pow-wow. I just wanted to check in with you real quick because I was a little bit worried about you."

Her expression turned confused. "Why were you worried about me? All I did was walk, well run actually, from your apartment to here. And I've done that a thousand times. So what could you possibly be worried about?"

He ran his fingers through his hair with a groan. "Oh man! I did overreact. I must have imagined it. I thought I sensed something through our bond earlier and I freaked out for a minute. It's hard to explain, but it felt like you were using the Silver Crystal. But it only lasted for a moment, and then it vanished. You can't imagine how relieved I was when I got here and Lita told me that you were fine and in the bathroom."

Realization widened Serena's eyes. "Oh that! Well, I did have a moment earlier when I was talking to Mina about some problems she was having. She was being pretty down on herself and I sorta slipped into the power without meaning to. I didn't even know that I'd done it until the girls pointed out that my crescent had appeared. It was an honest to goodness goof up. I don't normally let my emotions get the better of me like that."

Darien chuckled. "I can think of one time that you let it take over. That crescent moon was on your forehead for hours before it went away."

Serena blushed as she thought about the night in question. It had been the night that she and Darien had made love for the first time. She hadn't realized that it had appeared then either until Darien had kissed it and called her Serenity. She had been afraid after that night that it would pop up every time they were intimate together, but so far that had been the only time.

She glanced toward the booth where her friends sat just in time to see Kunzite stand up to leave. He took Mina's hand in his and raised it to his lips to press a gentlemanly kiss to the back of it before he said something that brought a bright smile to the blonde girl's face.

"Well, it looks like they made up," she murmured quietly. "I hope she made him grovel a little bit before she forgave him though. What he said to her was hurtful."

Darien snuck a sip of the sinfully decadent milkshake that he was wisely keeping concealed behind him to keep his girlfriend from seeing it. Then he replied, "Don't be too hard on Kunzite. I'm not saying that I agree with the way he handled things, but he had his reasons. And his heart was in the right place."

Serena turned back to look at him questioningly. "He told you about what happened between them?"

He nodded. "Yeah. He needed someone to unload on, so he dropped by the apartment not too long after you left. He doesn't have a problem at all with Mina's age. He was just trying to keep her away from some scumbags that he was doing business with. Unfortunately, he's never been much good at trying to make up excuses, and what he said to Mina came out all wrong. To be honest, I felt like a psychiatrist trying to unravel everything and put it into perspective for him."

Serena giggled. "I know what you mean. After being holed up in the bathroom for a while and listening to the girls, I almost felt like hanging up a sign that said _The doctor is in_."

He chuckle in return. "I'm just glad that I decided to stick with medicine. Listening to peoples' problems is not my calling."

"That's right! Because that is my job," Andrew trilled as he joined them. "So how are you lovebirds doing?"

Serena smiled brightly at her old crush and friend. "I'm great, Drew! But I already told you that when I came in. So tomorrow is the big day. Rita is coming home. I hope you've got something super romantic planned for her. Girls love that stuff. Are you going to the airport to meet her?"

His smile faltered just a bit. "No. I was going to, but she said that her dad was meeting her there and that it would be awkward for us to try and have a reunion in front of him. So instead I'm going to whip her up a fabulous meal and have our reunion later when we can have some alone time."

"Oh. That sounds great," Serena replied hesitantly. In reality, she thought that Andrew should be at the airport to greet Rita as she stepped off the plane, but she kept her thoughts to herself. Every relationship was different, so maybe this was the best way for Andrew and Rita. She just couldn't imagine the two of them not wanting to see each other immediately after such a long separation. She knew that nothing except a major catastrophe would keep her from Darien if he was coming back after such a long time.

Darien leaned down to whisper in her ear as Andrew turned to pick up an order from the kitchen. "I know what you're thinking. And I agree. But what works for us might not work for them. They'll work things out between them. It just might take a little time. Drew is an outgoing kind of guy, but Rita has always been a bit quiet and shy. They might seem like a bit of an odd couple, but I've known them since high school and they're crazy about each other.

Serena had her doubts, but she didn't speak them. Andrew was like the older brother that she had always wanted, and she loved him dearly, in a perfectly platonic way of course. She had come to respect Rita as well, once she'd gotten past her adolescent jealousy about Andrew having a girlfriend when she had been crushing so hard on him. Rita was smart and poised, two things that she had always hoped to become herself. True, the auburn haired, green-eyed beauty was painfully quiet and even introverted at times, but Andrew loved her enough to want to marry her someday. And that was enough in Serena's book to count her as a friend.

She smiled at Darien. "You're so smart about things sometimes. I must have picked up some of it from you. That's why all of the girls come flooding to me for advice."

He smirked at her. "Maybe I should change my major from medicine to psychology. Then I'll hire you as my assistant and we'll solve everyone's problems as a team."

"Hey, Serena!" Raye yelled out over the crowd. "You better get your tail over here! This food isn't getting any warmer."

"I better go," Serena groaned. "I never thought that I would see the day when Raye valued food more than I did, but I think it has arrived."

Darien caught her hand before she could move away. "You are coming back to my place later, aren't you?"

She gave him a mischievous grin. "It will have to be way later. My dad wants to take the family out to dinner tonight, so he expects me to stay at home. But I'm sure I can arrange sneaking out once he's asleep."

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "I'll see you then."

"Hey, hey!" Andrew exclaimed in a foolishly happy voice. "No kissing allowed in here. There are kids around, you out of control sex fiends!"

* * *

Serena did definitely sneak out later on that night. True to his word, her father had treated the family to a night out. But thanks to the two glasses of wine that he had indulged in at dinner, combined with the nighttime pain relievers that he had taken for his aching back, Ken Tsukino was out like a light before the evening news was finished. Which left his impulsive teenage daughter free to indulge in her own pursuits.

Once the sound of her father's snores was heard from behind his bedroom door, Serena went into action. She locked both the door to her bedroom from the hallway and the one that connected her to the bathroom that she shared with her brother. The only sound she heard was Sammy chatting to his friends as he battled them online while playing one of his games,

'_I'm on my way,' _she sent to Darien as she took a last look at herself in the mirror of her vanity table.

'_I can't wait,' _he replied back to her through their bond.

She took a half a minute more to make sure that her hair and makeup were good and to smooth out the dark blue skirt and white blouse that she had worn out to dinner with her family. Convinced that she looked decent, she pulled out her transformation brooch and murmured, "Moon Eternal Power."

Less than ten seconds later, Sailor Moon had jumped out of the window of her bedroom and was racing over the rooftops toward her boyfriend's apartment. Just as she passed the Crown arcade, she ran into Tuxedo Mask.

"I was beginning to think that you wouldn't be able to get away," he murmured as he caught her up in his arms.

She giggled at his impatience. "I told you I would. I just had to make sure that my dad was really asleep. He'd have a stroke if he knew that I was sneaking out to be with you."

Tuxedo Mask grumbled something uncharitable under his breath.

Sailor Moon slapped him lightly on the arm. "Don't start! Daddy has been a lot better lately. He's stopped giving me a hard time about dating you and hasn't brought up how much time we've been spending together even once. That's a major improvement for him."

He snorted in reply. "That's because he's transferred all of his negative feelings to me. Do you know how hard it was for me to get through the night of your birthday dinner? The man did nothing but glare at me the entire time. If looks could have killed, I would have been dead many times over. The nicest thing he said to me that night was that he was impressed with my decision to go away to school and that maybe I would find a reason to stay in America permanently."

She rolled her eyes. "Are we seriously going to stand on this roof all night, talking about my dad?"

"Hell no!" he growled, jerking her closer to him so that her body was pressed tightly against his. Her back bowed slightly as he bent over her to ravish her mouth with a scorching kiss.

She moaned into his mouth as she responded eagerly to him. She gripped his tuxedo vest firmly in one hand while the gloved fingers of her other hand tunneled into his silky, midnight dark hair.

He groaned in response as well as he deepened the kiss even more. His arms were around her waist with his hands at her back, but even through the fabric of his gloves he could feel her long tails of hair brushing his fingertips. Unable to resist the temptation, he wrapped one of the streamers of molten gold around his hand and used it as leverage to take complete control of the kiss.

When their lips finally parted a minute later, she whispered, "Somebody's feeling bossy tonight."

"Hmm, maybe," he purred as he moved his mouth to her neck. "But I thought you liked that."

She gasped at the wicked chills his questing lips and nibbling teeth were giving her. "I wasn't complaining. I've always known that you are a take-charge kind of guy. But you're usually a disciplined person as well, so I find it a bit amazing that you would indulge in a make-out session on a rooftop when your apartment is just a couple of blocks away and we could be there in less than a minute."

He pulled back to give her a roguish grin. "What can I say? I have a hard time controlling myself when I am around you."

"Um hmm," she murmured playfully as she twisted out of his hold. "I'm sure it's my _awesome _beauty that makes you so out of control." She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

He took a step toward her, growling, "Serena…"

She whirled away from his grasping hands. "Or perhaps it's my mind that you adore me for. I have been expanding my intellectual horizons lately."

This time he lunged for her, but she managed to jump nimbly out of the way.

She laughed and struck a pose that would have made Mina proud. "Nah! You're probably just after me for my rockin' body. I have to admit that I am in great shape. Of course I do get quite a bit of exercise."

He groaned deep in his throat. "You're driving me insane, Serena! You know I love you for all of those things, and a lot more. I love everything about you, the whole package. Now would you please stop teasing me like this?"

She sauntered up to him, swaying her hips seductively, and tapped him on the tip of his nose with her finger. "You want me…then you'll have to catch me first."

And then she was gone in a swirl of golden hair and a flash of fuku skirt.

She was already on the next building before he realized what she had done. Then he began to grin. "So that's how you want to play it, huh, princess? Oh, it is on!"

He took off after her across the rooftops. True, she was fast and had a bit of a head start on him, but he wasn't exactly slow. Years of rushing into battle to spirit Sailor Moon away from danger had honed his speed immensely. He probably wouldn't be able to keep it up over a long distance, but during a sprint he would be nothing but a blur. But he knew that they wouldn't be going very far. In fact, he knew their destination.

A block later he had almost caught up to her. She glanced over her shoulder and squealed when she saw that he was on the same roof as she was. Catching sight of her final goal, she put on an extra burst of speed and took a flying leap off of the building, knowing he was right behind her.

They both landed on his balcony within milliseconds of each other and bent over, gasping for air as they laughed. After a moment he had recovered enough to pull her into his arms.

"I caught you," he declared triumphantly.

"No you didn't," she denied breathlessly. "It was a draw since we both got here at the same time."

He arched a brow at her. "So that means that we both win then."

Her arms wound around his neck. "And what is our prize for winning?"

He crushed her to him as he proceeded to kiss her senseless. He shuffled her back a few feet until she was pinned between him and the sliding glass door. He fumbled with the door handle, trying to get it open while never removing his lips from hers.

Finally, it slid open with a hiss and they stumbled inside, still locked tightly together. A swipe of his foot closed the door behind them, trapping the warm, muggy night air outside where it belonged. By unspoken agreement, they both de-transformed in a couple of flashes of light, leaving Serena in her blouse and skirt and Darien in a white t-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts.

Serena kicked her shoes off as Darien began backing her toward the hallway that led to his bedroom. Then she reached for the hem of his shirt while his fingers were busy trying to undo the buttons of her blouse.

It was a long, slow journey down that hall, but by the time they had reached the bedroom door there was a trail of discarded clothing behind them. Darien swept Serena up in his arms before he kicked the door closed behind them.

* * *

Two hours later found the young lovers raiding Darien's kitchen.

"Hey, Sere, do you want ham or turkey?" Darien asked as he looked up from the sandwiches he was making.

"Um…both," Serena mumbled around the handful of potato chips she had just eaten.

He shook his head and chuckled. "I should have known. There isn't much of anything that you won't eat."

She took a gulp of her Coke to wash down the chips before glaring at him. "I don't need any wisecracks out of you, mister! If you're going to be mean I'll just go home and raid my own kitchen."

"But then you'd miss out on my culinary perfection," he announced as he set a sandwich, piled high with goodies, in front of her.

She squealed in delight and wasted no time tearing ravenously into it.

Darien grinned as he sat down next to her and began eating his much smaller sandwich. It still amazed him that Serena was able to pack away as much food as she did, and it made him wonder for the millionth time where she put it all. To look at her, one would think that she followed a sensibly balanced diet. But to Serena, a balanced diet consisted of hamburgers, cheese fries, onion rings, milkshakes, sundaes, and whatever other junk food she could find. And she could eat more of those artery-clogging delicacies in one sitting than three fully-grown men could.

But that was just part of who she was. And Darien had to admit that she looked adorable sitting at his kitchen table as she wolfed down her food. She had her legs folded under her in the chair and was wearing one of his button down shirts, a dark blue one that she had bought him on one of her shopping trips with the girls that she said reminded her of his eyes. Her hair was down and loose, falling around her like a shimmering cloak.

She polished off her sandwich before he was halfway done with his, and then fell back onto the bag of barbeque potato chips with a relish. After a minute she paused and offered the bag to him. "Want some?"

He chuckled. "No, I'm good. Have at it."

"Okay!" she chirped happily. "So I've been thinking."

"Scary thought," he teased her laughingly.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Anyway, I was looking at the calendar earlier and…"

"Oh no!" he groaned loudly. "I know where this conversation is headed, Serena. And the answer is no, absolutely not. I don't want to make a big deal of it."

"But, Darien…" she pleaded in her best innocent tone. "Today is August 1st. Your birthday is only a couple of days away. That _is _a big deal. We have to do something to celebrate it."

He pushed back slightly from the table. "I know your idea of celebrating, and it always turns into a party where I am the center of attention. Can't we just do something quiet this year with just the two of us? I was thinking maybe dinner and a movie. Or perhaps we could go dancing or something."

She turned on her best puppy dog eyes. "But those are _normal _date things that we do all the time. This day will be special, so you deserve something special. You always make a big deal over my birthday."

"That's different!" he snapped out a little harsher than he meant to.

Serena watched him quietly for a moment, her eyes wide and understanding. Finally, she said softly, "I understand that day may not be a favorite for you. I can't even imagine what my life would be like if I'd had to grow up without my mom and dad. But sweetie, you can't let that day be defined forever by that tragedy. It is also a day to celebrate your birth. If you hadn't been reborn, then we wouldn't be together now. And that would be the worst thing I can think of at the moment. Sure, it was a horrible thing that happened the day you turned six, but August 3rd is practically a religious holiday in my mind, because it gave me you."

A tiny smile lifted up the corners of his mouth. "You have a pep talk for everything, don't you?"

Her expression turned smug. "I try. Now come on. You know you're going to give in to me. We have this conversation every year, and you always cave in."

He sighed. "Fine. But I want you to know that I'm only doing this because I know that if I don't you'll just go behind my back and plan a surprise party. And I'd rather know what I'm facing beforehand. Just promise me that you'll keep it small."

She looked at him in astonishment. "I can't keep it small this year. The past couple of years I could because we only had the girls and Drew to invite. But our extended family has grown a lot now. You're also leaving in only two weeks, so this party will be a big deal. You'll just have to suck it up and put up with being in the spotlight for one night. It won't kill you."

"I wouldn't bet on it," he grumbled sullenly.

"Oh, get over it," she replied breezily. "And if you're a good boy and let me do this, I promise that you'll get a very special birthday present from me." She batted her lashes at him.

He began to grin evilly. "Can I have a sneak peek of my present now?"

She shot a glance toward the clock on the microwave. "I don't know. It's getting pretty late. I should probably be getting back home. If I accidentally fall asleep here and my parents find me gone in the morning I'll be grounded until the end of time."

He pulled her from her chair and into his lap. "I won't let you get in trouble. And if you do fall asleep I'll take you home and put you to bed personally. I promise."

She looked up at him through her lowered lashes. "Well, since you put it that way…" She pulled his head down to hers.

Their lips had just met when there was a knock at the front door that had them jumping apart. Serena almost fell on the floor, but luckily Darien's quick reflexes kept her upright.

"Who could that be?" she whispered through barely moving lips.

He shook his head. "I have no idea. It's after one in the morning. I can't think of anyone who would come by at this time." Then he gulped. "You don't think it's your dad, do you?"

She shot him an exasperated look. "Get real, Darien. If it were my dad, he wouldn't knock politely. He'd be trying to kick the door in and bellowing at the top of his lungs about all of the painful ways that he would like to kill you. Maybe it's one of the guys."

"I'm pretty sure they would have called if something was wrong," he muttered as he crept toward the door. He carefully took a look through the peephole.

"I don't believe it," he exclaimed a moment later and swiftly unlocked the bolt and chain on the door before swinging it wide. "What in the world are you doing here at this hour?"

Serena gaped at their surprise visitor. It was Andrew, but it wasn't Andrew as she normally knew him. His sandy hair normally had a messy appearance, but now it stuck up wildly, like he had been running his fingers through it over and over, or pulling on it.

He was still wearing the same white shirt and khakis that he had worn to work that day, and they sported a few stains that were just part of the job when you dealt with food and drink. They were also severely wrinkled, like he had been wallowing in them.

But it was his face that was the most shocking. His normally tanned skin had lost its golden glow and was now a sickly pale shade. Usually his vibrant hazel eyes sparkled with laughter. Now they were red-rimmed and dull as he looked at them.

"Wassup," he drawled hoarsely, wobbling slightly on his feet as he stood in the hall. He looked like somebody had died.

"Get in here," Darien demanded, pulling his friend inside and closing the door behind them. Then he studied him critically. "Have you been drinking?"

Andrew attempted a smile, but it came out looking more like a grimace. He held up a bag that he was holding in his hand. "Not yet. But I'm planning on it. I came by just to see if you were still up. I saw that your light was on through your balcony door, so I thought I'd take a chance. It would be nice to have someone to help me toast my newly single status."

Serena gasped out loud. "You and Rita broke up?"

He bit out a harsh, hollow laugh. "I guess you could say that. We didn't exactly break up. She dumped my ass like the past three years meant absolutely nothing to her." Then he seemed to realize Serena's lack of proper clothes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bust up you guys' romantic evening."

Serena looked down at herself and blushed. At least she looked mostly decent. Darien's shirts always swallowed her whole, and this one went to her knees. It covered more than her fuku did anyway. But the fact that she was in Darien's apartment in the middle of the night and wearing his shirt advertised what they had been doing better than a neon sign would.

'It…it's okay," she stammered. "I was just getting ready to leave anyway." Then she hurried to the bedroom, gathering up her abandoned clothes from earlier along the way.

She had shimmied into her underclothes and skirt, and was pulling on her blouse when Darien came in.

"I'm sorry," he began immediately. "This isn't the way that I planned for the night to go. But Drew is all messed up right now, and he needs someone to talk to."

She put her fingers over his lips. "It's fine. I understand. He needs you right now. I would do the same thing if one of the girls were in his place. So you go and talk to him and I'll head home."

He flashed her a smirk. "Maybe we should start charging if we are going to be playing therapists all the time."

She giggled. "You might be right. And we both seem to be on a roll today." Then she sobered. "Poor Drew. I feel so horrible for him. I can't believe that Rita would just dump him like this. He practically worships the ground that she walks on and he's been waiting so patiently all of this time for her. What's even worse is that she did it over the phone on the night before she's coming back. That's pretty low."

Darien gave her a squeeze. "We don't know the whole story yet, so don't start jumping to conclusions. Let me talk to him and see what's going on, okay."

"Okay," she agreed. "But if you guys need me, you call."

"I will," he promised her. "Did you want me to take you home first."

"Nah, I can make it fine on my own. It's not like it's that far," she told him as she finished buttoning her blouse. Then, satisfied that she looked presentable, well, as presentable as she could with her hair hanging loose around her, but she wasn't going to take the time to put it up, she left the bedroom with Darien following her.

There was no sign of Andrew as they stepped into the living room, but the clink of glasses coming from the kitchen let them know that he was still there. Serena longed to go to her friend and wrap him in a tight hug, but after a second thought she decided that might now be the right thing to do. Andrew's emotions were raw right now, and he had come seeking his best friend to talk to. It would probably be best to let Darien take care of things for now.

"Bye, Drew!" she called in the direction of the kitchen.

A few seconds later his defeated looking face appeared in the opening above the breakfast bar. He waved a hand at her and tried to say cheerfully, "Later, Sere!" but it came out hoarse and raspy instead, which made Serena wince in sympathy.

Darien followed her out onto the balcony, and then pulled her close for one last kiss. "I'll call you later," he told her when he finally let her go.

"Okay," she replied a bit breathlessly as she stepped away from him and pulled out her brooch. A whispered command and a flash of light later, Sailor Moon was jumping up onto the balcony railing.

"Be careful," Darien warned her. "I don't want you falling off of any more roofs."

She shot him a look over her shoulder. "Nobody is ever going to let me live that down, are they? I have saved this world more times than I care to count, and yet I have to catch grief over one time that I slipped up. Where's the justice in that? I outran you earlier when we had our rooftop race."

"It was a tie," he reminded her. "And I just want you to be careful because I don't want to see you get hurt. I love you too much for that."

Her expression softened and she smiled. "I love you too. I guess it's a good thing that my hair fixes itself when I transform. That way I don't have to worry about tripping over it on the way home." Then she giggled. "See ya!" And she jumped away into the night.

He stood there for a moment, watching her for as long as he could until she faded from sight. Then a quiet voice spoke up from behind him. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to cock-block you."

He turned to find Andrew standing at the open sliding door with his shoulder leaning against the doorframe. He too was staring off in the direction that Sailor Moon had gone with an expression that was a mixture of longing and envy.

Darien shrugged. "You didn't cock-block me. Serena really was talking about leaving before you showed up." Then he nodded to the glasses that his friend held in his hands. "I'm assuming that one of those is for me."

"Rum and coke, just like we used to drink when we were back in high school," Andrew announced as he stepped out onto the balcony and handed Darien one of the glasses. "Of course I made them a bit stronger than the way we used to and it's also a better brand than that cheap crap we used to get from that hole in the wall liquor store. I heard that place finally got busted for selling to minors."

Darien took an experimental sip. "So where did you get this? You're not exactly of legal age yet yourself. You've got close to another year before you hit twenty-one."

"I've got friends in low places," Andrew replied before knocking back a healthy slug of his drink. "Actually, I went by the house and swiped it from the old man's liquor cabinet. I doubt he'll even miss it since he keeps a healthy supply on hand. It's all that Scots-Irish blood in him. He, mom, and Lizzy weren't home, so I just helped myself."

Darien sat down on one of the lounge chairs and took a longer draft from his glass before asking delicately, "So do you want to tell me about it?"

Andrew sighed and sank down onto the other chair. "I don't even know where to begin. My mind is still trying to process everything. I never in a million years expected anything like this to happen, so I'm feeling kinda lost here."

"So did she call you?" Darien prompted, trying to give his friend the opening that he needed to get everything off of his chest.

Andrew shook his head. "No. She came into the arcade just as I was closing up tonight. I was all excited at first because I thought that she had come home a day early to surprise me. But after a couple of minutes I could tell that something was wrong. She wasn't acting like herself."

Then he gave a bitter laugh. "I should have seen it coming, but I was a blind fool. She hasn't been herself in months. Every time I spoke to her I could feel this distance growing stronger between us. I kept telling myself that it was just because she was stressed out with all of her work and studies, but I think that deep inside I knew that there was more going on. I just didn't want to admit it."

Silence fell between the two men for several minutes. Andrew finished his drink and disappeared back inside for a moment. When he came back he brought the bottle of rum, a two-liter of Coke, and a pitcher of ice with him.

After mixing up another drink he dove right back into the story. "So anyway, she was acting all funny. She wouldn't even let me kiss her. About that time my warning bells started going off, so I asked her what was wrong. She started crying and told me that she had been offered a chance to complete her schooling in Africa instead of coming back here. I didn't like the idea of her going away for another three years, but being the understanding bastard that I am, I told her that I supported her and that we would get through it."

"Ouch! That is a long time," Darien muttered sympathetically as he topped off his drink. "So what, did she decide that she would rather break things off instead of trying to keep a long distance relationship going?"

"Oh, just wait. It gets even better," Andrew ground out in a cold tone. "So after I told her that I would wait for her, she flips out and starts telling me that she thinks it would be better if I moved on with my life. I, of course, go all pathetic and practically beg her to not give up on us, and that we could work this out. And then she dropped the bomb on me and told me that she's fallen in love with someone else and doesn't want to be with me anymore."

Darien sat straight up in his chair. "What? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm as serious as a falling stock market," Andrew declared vehemently.

Darien couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, that was probably the nerdiest thing that you've ever said. So what happened next?"

Andrew shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I know some more things were said between us, but I couldn't tell you what they were. It's almost like I blacked out for a while. The next thing I knew I was on the bridge in the park and I had that damn emerald ring that I worked my ass off to buy for her in my hand."

"She gave back the ring?" Darien asked in astonishment. The ring in question hadn't been extremely large or flashy, just a moderately sized emerald set into a simple gold band, but it had still been slightly pricey for a high school student to buy, especially when the said student had also been trying to save up to buy a car at the same time. Andrew had pulled as many hours at the arcade that he possibly could, on top of trying to finish out his senior year with the highest marks he could get. But he had been determined to propose to Rita on the night of their graduation. In the end, he'd had to pull some of his money out of his precious Mustang fund in order to cover the cost of the ring, but he'd considered having to wait a tiny bit longer for his car well worth it.

"Yeah, she gave it back," Andrew sneered. "And I threw it into the lake. I know it wasn't the practical thing to do, but I didn't want to have anything to do with it. Then I just sat under a tree for a while in shock. After that I went by my parents' place and then came here. That's the whole story."

A companionable silence fell between the friends as they sat there, sipping their drinks. The buzz that Andrew had to be feeling was evident in his voice when he spoke several minutes later. "Hey, Dare, can I ask you something?"

Darien was feeling a little fuzzy himself as he answered, "Sure."

Andrew looked up at the sky and sighed. "I know that you and Serena have the whole past life thing in your favor, and I will be the first one to say that you two are great with each other, but you know that I don't buy into Mina's spiel about soul mates and fated love. Don't you worry about leaving her behind while you go off to get your fancy education? What if you find someone else while you're gone? What if she finds some other guy that she likes? Do you ever think about that?"

Darien thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, not really. I know you don't believe in the whole destiny thing, but there are forces out there that are beyond our control. Don't get me wrong. I'm not with Serena because of who we were in the past. I fell in love with her before I ever found out about any of that. I love her because of who she is now. She's like the other half of my soul, and she completes me. She gives my life a purpose."

"I used to think the same thing about Rita. And look where that got me," Andrew muttered petulantly. "Up until a couple of hours ago I would have bent over backwards and done anything in the world for her. Now I just feel…empty."

I know you're down about Rita right now," Darien told him sympathetically. "But someday you'll find someone that will make you feel whole again. There is a girl out there that is meant just for you. And one day, when you least expect it, you'll meet her. Your life will never be the same again after that."

"You really have been hanging around Serena too long," Andrew snorted on a laugh that sounded more like a sob. "That sounded just like something she would say. Maybe you're right, and some mystery woman will come out the blue someday and knock my socks off. But honestly, right now, I couldn't care less. At this moment, all I can see is my life as a confirmed bachelor stretching out before me. My mom will just have to get over the disappointment about the grandkid thing. But you never completely answered my question. What would you do if you or Serena found someone else that you wanted to be with?"

Darien arched a brow at him. "Are you asking for my truthful opinion, or are you just wanting me to tell you something that will make you feel better?"

"Damn it! Don't joke with me right now. I'm asking you for the truth. What would you do?" Andrew growled.

Darien shrugged. "It's simple. I'd let her go. I wouldn't want to force a relationship with her if my heart wasn't in it anymore. And I hope that she would do the same for me if the tables were turned."

Andrew sighed. "And that's why I can't really be mad at Rita. I hate the situation. But I know that breaking up with me was the right thing to do. It's what I would have done."

After a minute of silence, he spoke again. "You know I'll look after Serena for you while you're gone, right? I mean, I know she has a ton of other people to keep an eye on her, but I'll be there for her too."

Darien chuckled. "I know you will. In fact, I'm counting on it. True, she'll have the scouts and generals around, but Serena loves to surround herself with her friends. And you're the oldest one that she has in this lifetime. You've known her since she was a little girl. The girls will help her out in that feminine way they have, and the guys will keep a lookout for any trouble, but I have a feeling that you will be the one that she will lean on because you are so close to both of us. I just ask for you to keep on being her friend, and try to help her still have some fun in life. Even after I'm gone."

Andrew nodded solemnly. "I can do that. Now, can we drop all of the Dr. Phil talk and just enjoy our night and our drinks?"

"Sure thing," Darien laughed. "Let's top off and kick back and relax."

So that was what they did. They refilled their drinks and then lay back against the lounge chairs as the summer night swirled around them. Sometimes they talked, and sometimes they lapsed into companionable silences.

It wasn't until a surprisingly strong wind blew around them that they moved their eyes from the sky above them to look out across the city.

"Would you look at that," Andrew commented casually. "It looks like a storm might be moving in."

Darien frowned as he looked at the darker clouds that had indeed begun forming in the distance. Lightning flashed and there was a faint rumble of thunder. "That's strange. The weather reports said that tonight was going to be clear."

"The weathermen never get it right," Andrew snorted. "Besides, it doesn't look like it's that strong. It probably popped up because of all of the humidity in the air. More than likely it will blow itself out."

Sure enough, within ten minutes the building storm had dissipated, leaving behind no signs that it had ever even existed.

"Hmm," Darien mused as he studied the once more clear, star-filled sky. "That was weird. I wonder if Nephrite and Lita had an argument or something. That freak storm felt like there was an energy behind it."

Andrew shrugged. "Who knows with those two. Sometimes they bicker way worse than you and Serena ever did."

But as he looked back toward where the storm clouds had hung just a short time before, he suppressed a shiver. There had been a bit of an otherworldly feeling behind the storm. He just hoped that it wasn't some sort of an ominous premonition. He didn't think it was, because a strange, yet familiar feeling had swept through him in the few short minutes that the sky had turned stormy. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt calmer now than he had all night. Then again, he was slightly drunk.

Darien didn't say anything, but he felt much the same way. There had been a familiarity in the energy of the storm, and it hadn't felt like Lita or Nephrite. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it though. Then again, he had indulged in quite a few drinks, so it was no wonder that he was having problems thinking straight.

Shrugging it off, he pushed away his speculations about how or why the unexpected storm had popped up and used his bond to check on Serena. She may have made tremendous progress on maturing, but he knew that thunderstorms still terrified her. But a quick check through their link showed that Serena was at home, fast asleep in bed.

Since all seemed well, he sat back to while away the evening with his best friend. At least until Andrew finally reached the passing out point, which shouldn't take long with the way the level was dropping in that rum bottle. He just hoped that his friend made it inside before checking out for good.

Andrew did make it as far as Darien's couch, but he tossed and turned in his sleep that night as he dreamed about a mystery woman. She was always just out of his reach and enshrouded so deeply in shadows that he could never make out more than a misty outline of her.

When he woke in the morning, and the catastrophe that was now his life descended on him once more, he remembered nothing about his dream visitor. It was if she had never existed.

Andrew wasn't the only one to experience troublesome dreams. Serena and Darien both twisted in their sheets as they both saw vague images that they couldn't place. But the images slowly drifted away like smoke, and by morning neither of them remembered them.

* * *

Of course, a certain dream priest had a hand in suppressing those dreams that night. And in a hotel room on the other side of Azabu, Helios sighed as he stood up from where he had been kneeling beside a bed.

Looking down at the now peacefully slumbering occupant, he murmured, "I knew that having you here, even for a short while, would stir up trouble." But he didn't say this in an unfriendly tone. In fact, his expression seemed quite fond.

He felt an energy spike a few moments before he sensed another presence join him. He turned with a chuckle. "So the all-powerful and all-knowing Sailor Pluto can make an entrance without all of the flash and smoke after all."

"Oh, hush!" Sailor Pluto scolded him in a whisper as she emerged from the shadows on the far side of the room. "I didn't want to take the risk of waking her up accidentally. The time has not come for her to meet any of the sailor scouts yet. So it could be potentially dangerous if she were to see me know."

Helios rolled his eyes slightly. "Have a little faith in me, Lady Pluto. Sure, her being here in such close proximity to the others caused a little glitch, but I was expecting something along these lines and was prepared for it. My magic should hold and give her a good night's sleep. I doubt an atomic explosion would wake her up right now. But even if she were to wake, I'm sure you could make her forget it."

"Hmph!" Pluto huffed. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she is the one person that particular power doesn't work on. You know how stubborn she is."

Though it was risky, she moved to the side of the bed and gently began straightening the twisted covers around the sleeping teenage girl. For just a moment, a tender smile turned up her lips.

Then she sighed and shook her head before stepping back. "What about the others? They had no breakthroughs, did they?"

"Just garbled images mostly," Helios told her. "And I was able to discharge them easily enough. They will remember nothing."

Pluto nodded. "Good. For right now the timeline is on track, and it shows the clear path that they are meant to take. We can't afford to have anything mess it up. It would put the entire future at risk. I'm just grateful that she's only here for a visit. Can you keep the dreams contained until she leaves?"

"I can," Helios reassured her. "But it will be a different story once the events are set into motion. The amount of energy that I've had to utilize to suppress her memories has grown exponentially over the years. Continual close proximity will put a tremendous strain on the memory blocks."

"We'll just have to deal with that when the time comes," Pluto sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "For now all we can do is pray and wait. I know that you and her guardians will stay on watch, as will I. We only need to buy a bit more time, a year and a half or so. After that, well…I guess we'll see if prophecies really can come true."

"Don't you already know?" Helios teased her, trying to lighten the moment.

She offered him a sad smile. "Come now, Helios. I may know a lot of things, but I am far from omniscient. Time can follow a crooked path sometimes, and even I can miss some ominous signs at times. Do you honestly think that I could have stood aside and done nothing if I had known the depths of the danger that the moon kingdom was in that final day?"

"I suppose not," he conceded truthfully. "You would have fought with them if you could have. I know that."

Then, with a final look of understanding shared between them, they both teleported away. He to Elysian, and she to the time gate, where they both could return to their duties.

And during all of this, the girl in the bed slept on, oblivious to the conversation that had taken place right next to her or of the magnitude of the battle that lay in her future.

* * *

**A/N **So there you have it! Darien's departure date is fast approaching. Andrew and Rita have called it quits, clearing the way for someone else to step in at a later date. And we even caught a glimpse of a certain someone, um…shadowy? The next chapter of this might be the last. I can't be for certain yet because it depends on my muse. But I'm trying to make this story flow into _Lunar Princess _as easily as I can. So we'll just have to see where it leads. As always, reviews are much loved and coveted. So please feel free to drop me a few words and tell me what you thought. Hopefully an update for _Rekindled _will be next on my list. In the meantime, be safe you guys! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~


	23. Until We Are Together Again

**A/N **Finally! Here we are at the final chapter of this story. I actually finished this a couple of days ago, but my son got a bit under the weather. So I've been spending time with him, curled up on the couch alternating between watching _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood _and playing _Assassin's Creed Revelations _with him on our Xbox. Oh yeah! I'm the cool mom! No wonder all of his little friends always want to hang out at our house. But anyway, this is the end of this part of the saga. I tried my best to get the story to flow smoothly into _Lunar Princess_, and I hoped I succeeded. _GT _will be wrapping up soon as well, bringing the trilogy to a sort of end. But I am already playing with some one shots that take place in this particular universe, and will probably post some of those at a later date.

I know I usually give out individual hugs to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. But since this is the end of this story, I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every person who has ever reviewed, favorited, followed, or even clicked on and read this mad rambling of mine. Your support has meant everything to me. So without further ado, I give you the conclusion of this tale. Thank you all!

_**ENJOY!**_

* * *

When Bad Boys Go Good

Chapter 22

Until We Are Together Again

* * *

_**Two Days To Go**_

Serena looked up from the photo album she was working on to scowl at her boyfriend. "Oh please tell me you aren't taking that _thing _with you."

"Of course I am," Darien told her as he placed his favorite green jacket inside the hanging bag he had on the back of his closet door. "I know you've never liked it, but it's warm and comfortable. Winters in Massachusetts can get pretty cold, and you wouldn't want me to freeze to death, would you?"

"No," she sighed. Then she wrinkled her nose. "It's just that it is such a bad color on you. It washes out your natural tan and clashes horribly with your eyes."

He flashed her a smirk. "Then count yourself lucky that you won't have to look at me in it everyday. Instead I'll be terrorizing the student population at Harvard with it."

Serena thought about that for a moment. In her eyes, Darien never looked bad, no matter what he was wearing. But maybe, just maybe, if he wore that jacket while he was away at school it would be enough of a deterrent to keep the girls he was bound to come across while he was there from seeing just exactly how gorgeous he was.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she trusted him completely. And she knew that she would never have to worry about him cheating on her. It was her fellow females that she didn't trust. Some women could be as vicious as vipers when they saw a man that they wanted for themselves, and could be positively relentless in their pursuit. Just look at all of the trouble that Beryl had caused, twice. Her ambition to possess the Silver Crystal had been trumped only by her lust for the earth prince. And that didn't count some of the other little incidences that had occurred with people developing crushes on her boyfriend, and they hadn't necessarily all been women either.

She shook her head. "On second thought, take it with you. If you left it here I would probably be tempted to take it and let Raye use it for target practice anyway."

He chuckled. "I figured as much. That's another reason why I want to take it with me. To keep it safe."

She stuck her tongue out at him as he turned back toward his closet.

'_I saw that,' _his voice rumbled in her head.

'_I'm glad you did,' _she teased back impishly as she returned to her project.

When Darien had attempted to go overseas the year before, she had put together a small photo album full of them and their friends. But since that circle of friends had grown so dramatically over the summer, she'd decided to update it before he left. She knew that he had tons of pictures saved on his computer, but this was something that he could pick up fast if he just wanted to quick peek at home.

She was finding it hard to decide which ones to replace and which to leave though. After dithering for a few minutes, she taken out some of the ones that didn't have as much sentimental value to her, mostly random shots of her and the girls hanging out back when they were in middle school, and she'd freed up quite a few spaces.

She'd also made sure to remove the picture that she'd found of Andrew and Rita together, feeling a pang of sadness for her friend as she did. Andrew claimed that he was recovering from the sudden break with Rita, but his eyes told a much different story. He was hurting deep inside, and he probably would for a while, but he was trying to keep up a brave face and a positive attitude in front of everyone. It was a heartbreaking thing to see.

It was also a good thing that Rita hadn't stayed in town for long after she'd dumped Andrew, and she would never know how close she had been to being on the receiving end of some harsh, sailor scout justice. Raye and Lita, in particular, had been ready to run out and lynch the auburn haired woman. And even Amy had been outraged over the fact that Rita had obviously been cheating on Andrew for some time and hadn't been honest with him.

Surprisingly, Mina had been the least infuriated about the events, stating, "Well, I knew it was coming sooner or later. They weren't soul mates or anything. Now perhaps Andrew will be able to find the one that is meant for him." But she had still been upset for her friend and ready to jump into the action.

Luckily the generals had been able to keep their headstrong girlfriends from rushing off and doing something crazy. And finally, Andrew had spoken to them and told them to leave Rita alone. She was in charge of her own life and could make her own decisions. That had put a stop to the threat of bloodshed.

Serena pushed the depressing thoughts from her mind as she set back to work. She was about to have a lot of free time on her hands, and she was putting keeping Andrew as cheered up as possible at the top of her list. She had known the sandy-haired boy most of her life, and he was like her older brother. They would lean on each other to get through the rough patches in their lives. She knew the scouts and generals would be there to help too.

She smiled as she began fitting new pictures into the album. There was one that had been taken just a week and a half before at Darien's birthday party. In it, Mina beamed a bright smile as she sat next to Kunzite in one of the arcade's booths. The usually stoic general had an arm draped around the blonde girl's shoulders and even had a hint of a grin on his face.

Then there was one of Lita and Nephrite the day that they had all ended up at the water park. They were both laughing as they attempted to ram each other on the bumper boats.

Another one showed Amy and Zoicite being uncharacteristically lazy as they lounged side by side on rafts in Mina's backyard pool.

The next one was a rare sight. It was of Raye and Jadeite the night that they had celebrated her and Rini's birthday in the park, and it showed a rare quiet moment between the usually loud couple. Jadeite was sprawled out on a blanket on the ground while Raye's fingers played idly through his hair.

She even put in a picture of the outer scouts that someone had taken after one of Amara's race wins earlier in the summer. The disheveled racecar driver was grinning broadly as she held the always cool and composed Michelle to her side. Trista was, well…Trista. Her expression was completely smooth, though there was the slightest smile turning up her lips. And she was holding tightly to Hotaru's arm, probably to keep her from bolting out of the picture. The younger girl was almost painfully shy at times, and it was no secret that she hated having her picture taken.

She flipped the page and saw that she was at the end of the album and only had space for two more pictures. She slipped in one that she had somehow managed to take, and not stick her finger in the frame, of Darien, Andrew, and the generals. The six men were gathered around the pool table at the generals' home and looked to be having a fun time as they sipped beer and played pool. Each of the men alone was handsome in their own way, but together they were like an overdose of testosterone. And she found it amazing that the guys were able to go out together in a group without being mauled.

She was debating about a few pictures when Darien's hand suddenly shot into sight to swipe up one of the photos.

"Put this one in. It's one of my favorites," he told her.

Her nose scrunched up at his choice. It was an older photo that had somehow become mixed up with the newer ones that she had been going through. "This one? Really? But it's so embarrassing! I still can't believe that you took it!"

He smirked at her. "I couldn't help it. It was such an adorable moment that I couldn't pass it up."

"Adorable, my butt! I looked like an apocalypse survivor in it," she grumbled. But she slipped the photo into the last slot anyway. In it, she was curled up in Darien's bed. Her hair was snarled, tangled, and half out of its usual style while her _"meatballs"_ were blown up to three times their normal size. Combine that with her snow-pale face and the bruise-like circles under her eyes, and she looked like hell.

The only thing that kept her from ripping the photo into confetti was the image of the sleeping little girl tucked securely in her arms. The sight of Rini's pink haired head tucked up under her chin made her heart swell up with warmth and love, and drew her attention away from her less than appealing looking state.

The picture had been taken sometime during the hours immediately following her battle with Pharaoh 90. She had literally felt half-dead after that fight and had had to depend solely on Mina, Raye, Lita, and Amy to get her away from the scene before the authorities showed up since she had been incapable of even standing, let alone walking. The girls had wanted to take her to the Hikawa Shrine to rest, but she had been adamant about returning to Darien's apartment to check on Rini. Despite Sailor Saturn's reassurances that her future daughter's pure heart crystal had been returned to her and that she would be fine, Serena knew that she wouldn't rest until she had seen the proof for herself. So her friends had carried her to the apartment where Darien had barely said a word before scooping her up in his arms and tucking her into bed beside the peacefully sleeping Rini. Evidently at some point he had decided to snap the picture.

Serena closed the completed photo album and tossed it into the open suitcase sitting on the foot of the bed. "There, it's done. Now you have something to take a peek at if you ever start feeling homesick."

Darien grinned as he tugged lightly on one of her golden pigtails. "You're such a sentimentalist! But I'll be sure to keep it on my bedside table. That way I will be able to see your lovely face quickly whenever I wake up from having naughty dreams about you."

Her face immediately blazed red as she wailed, "DARIEN!"

His expression turned innocent. "What? Are you telling me that you never have _those_ kind of dreams about me?"

Her cheeks turned impossibly redder and she sputtered, "Th-that's none of your business!"

"Ah ha! You have!" he replied smugly.

"Stop picking on me!" she screeched, yanking him by the arm so that he fell across the bed. Using just a bit of her scout strength, she flipped him over onto his back. Then, quick as a wink, she scrambled on top of him to straddle his waist.

Though surprised at her actions, he smirked up at her. "Ooh! Are you going to punish me, princess?"

"Just shut up, you depraved pervert!" she growled a second before she seized the front of his shirt in her hands and proceeded to kiss him silly.

After a couple of minutes of intense kisses and light groping, they were both breathless. Serena reluctantly pulled away from the delicious temptation of his lips and laid her head on his chest where she could hear his heartbeat racing just as madly as hers was.

She had been trying her best to stay strong and upbeat, but the moment got the better of her and she couldn't help but sigh, "Just two more days."

His chest rumbled under her ear as he groaned, "Serena…"

She sat up straight, immediately snapping herself out of her melancholy moment and placing a hand over his mouth. "No, don't say anything, Darien. I'm okay…really I am. Just like you and everyone else have pointed out to me this summer, I am the one that pushed so hard for you to take this opportunity to go to such a wonderful school. I know that being apart isn't going to be easy for either of us, but deep down I know that this is something that you have always wanted. And as long as you are happy, I am happy. It's not like we're never going to see each other again. When you're done soaking up all the knowledge that Harvard can give you and you're ready to come back home, I'll be right here, waiting for you with open arms."

He pulled her back against his chest and wrapped both of his arms tightly around her as he kissed the top of her head. "My little Meatball Head truly has grown up some."

She leaned up and nipped playfully at his earlobe. "Don't sound so surprised, jerk! I thought you would have figured that out by now; especially since you have been treating me like an adult all summer."

He quickly reversed their positions so that she was pinned between him and the mattress. Then he shot her a wicked grin. "So I have. My packing is pretty much done, and we still have a couple of hours before we're supposed to meet everyone at the restaurant for dinner. So what do you say about me taking some time to treat you like an adult again."

"You are absolutely incorrigible!" Serena sighed in exasperation as she rolled her eyes. Then she reached up to grab his collar in both hands and pulled his face down to hers. "Just shut up and kiss me!"

* * *

_**One Day To Go**_

"Ooh! What about this one?" Mina squealed as she pulled a dress from her closet and spun around to face the rest of the room.

Serena's eyebrows arched warily as she took in the extremely short, strapless, bright purple dress. "I think that might be a bit over the top, Mina."

Amy's blue eyes peered over the top of the book that she was pretending to read. Like anyone could concentrate on reading with all of the commotion going on. "She's right, Mina. She's going to the airport, not a nightclub."

Mina stuck her tongue out at both of them. "You two are such sticks in the dirt."

"Sticks in the mud," Lita corrected her with a laugh. "And I have to agree with them. It's a great dress for a night on the town, and Serena could totally pull it off with those long legs of hers, but it's overkill for an airport goodbye."

"Well I wouldn't mind borrowing it," Raye announced as she plucked the fabric from Mina's fingers. "Jed's taking me out tonight, and I could use something new to wear."

Lita snickered again. "So what else is new? You and Jadeite have been stuck together so tight lately that it would take a crowbar to pry the two of you apart."

Raye snorted derisively. "Like you have any room to talk. Sometimes I wonder if you and your little Nephie have discovered some new and interesting uses for super glue. Do you ever stay in your own apartment anymore?"

"Yeah, when he pisses me off But that just makes the making up later much more fun," Lita cackled. "What about you? Has grandpa rented your room out to anyone yet?"

Mina jumped in when she saw Raye's face turn bright red in anger. "Okay, yes, I think it is safe to say that we have all spent quite a few nights sleeping over at the penthouse lately. Even Amy hasn't been immune to that."

The blue haired girl quickly ducked behind her book to hide her blushing face.

Serena howled with laughter as she rolled around on the bright orange comforter covered bed, clutching her stomach. "Did I just hear the great love goddess use the term _sleeping over_ to describe spending the night with your boyfriends? From all the hints I've picked up on, there is usually very little _sleeping _involved."

Mina wasn't fazed by her words in the least, and a feline smile curved up her lips. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you, princess? Who was it that came climbing through my window the other night, trying to beat her enraged father here because he was on his way to make sure that you were spending the night where you said you were?"

Serena's laughter died and she pouted. "My dad is way beyond overprotective. Thank god Luna heard what was going on and was able to call me and warn me in time."

"You were just lucky that I was here," Mina stated smugly. "How would you have been able to explain to your dad that you were spending the night at my house while I was spending the night somewhere else?"

"I would have come up with something," Serena grumbled. "I would have told him that you were in the shower or had run to the store."

"Like he wouldn't have seen through that excuse," Raye chuckled. "Serena, you couldn't tell a convincing lie to save your life."

Lita nodded. "Raye's right. You are a pretty crappy liar."

Amy set her book aside, finally giving up the pretense. "Well being bad at lying is not a bad thing. Why would somebody want to be good at something that is so wrong?"

Serena rolled to her stomach and propped her chin on her hands as she sighed heavily. "I may not be a good liar, but I still managed to fool all of you for several months when Darien left last time."

"And we were blind, stupid fools for believing it!" Raye snapped. "We call ourselves your best friends, so we should have picked up that something was wrong from the very beginning."

"Well, to be fair, we were a bit preoccupied at the time," Lita growled.

Amy nodded. "That is a valid point. We were kept busy with rogue sailor scouts stealing peoples' star seeds and turning them into phages. Not to mention we had the Starlights popping up every time we turned around and the outers were acting so aggressively."

"But the main point now is that we won't have to worry about things getting out of hand this time," Mina piped up. "Serena won't be the only one keeping in contact with Darien anymore. And if he were to go missing again, the guys would be hot on his trail before it even had a chance to cool."

Serena flung herself over onto her back and stared at the ceiling as she grumbled, "You girls are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

The four girls just grinned and replied, "Nope!" Then they promptly found their faces full of the pillows that Serena had picked up from the bed and thrown at them.

A five-way stare down ensued in silence for the next minute before they all grabbed a pillow and war cries erupted.

Downstairs, Luna lifted her head from the couch she was laying on to look at the ceiling as sounds of battle exploded overhead. "Do you think we should go break them up?"

From the cushion next to her, Artemis cracked open a blue eye to squint at her. "Are you insane? I'm not getting in the middle of that. Mina went shopping this morning and picked me up some solid white albacore tuna and fresh cream, and I am not taking a chance of her keeping that dinner from me as punishment."

"Typical male, always thinking with your stomach," Luna muttered as she laid her head back down. After a few seconds, she couldn't help but ask, "Am I invited to join you for that dinner?"

Artemis snickered as he closed his eye again. "Of course you are, Luna."

* * *

"Finally!" Jadeite exclaimed as the front door to the penthouse opened to admit a slightly bleary-eyed looking Zoicite. "I was afraid that we were going to have to start the party without you."

"Party? What party?" Zoicite mumbled.

Jadeite rolled his eyes. "Well, it's not exactly a party per se. It's just that the girls are all together doing their thing this afternoon, so us guys decided to take this opportunity to hang out and have a couple of drinks. It will be the last time we're all together for a while with Darien leaving tomorrow and everything. But I was beginning to wonder where you were. I thought your shift ended a couple of hours ago."

Zoicite shrugged. "The hospital doesn't exactly work on a set schedule. The ER got pretty busy, so I stuck around until everything settled down."

"Any interesting cases?" Darien asked as he and Nephrite came out from the kitchen carrying bags of junk food.

Zoicite chuckled. "Just the ordinary slew of hypochondriacs and addicts hoping to get their hands on some pills. There were a few legitimate cases; some sprains, broken bones, possible concussions, and such. And Anne told me that there was a woman that almost gave birth in the parking lot. So it was a pretty typical day."

"Anne?" Nephrite drawled interestedly. "Getting in cozy with the girlfriend's mother are we?"

The blonde doctor's cheeks turned faintly pink. "For god's sake, you depraved moron! I work with the woman on practically a daily basis. It's just easier for us to call each other by our given names."

Darien tilted his head thoughtfully. "That's true. She was in charge of my last student rotation, and she was the same way then. I spent a lot of extra hours at the hospital shadowing her, and she invited me to call her Anne."

"And I'm sure the fact that you are friends with her daughter and Zoicite is shagging that daughter had nothing to do with her decision," Jadeite snickered. Then he jumped and yelled, "Ouch!"

His hand flew to his right butt cheek where he found a shard of ice, as thin and as sharp as a needle, sticking out of the material of his jeans. He plucked it out and turned to glare at Zoicite. "You stuck me!"

Zoicite arched a brow at him, his expression remaining smoothly calm. "I'll do it again if you keep up your perverted talk. Only next time the icicle will much larger, and it will be aimed at a much more sensitive area of your anatomy."

Jadeite's bottom lips poked out in a pout. "You're no fun anymore since you became Mr. Serious Doctor, Zoi. You need to learn to loosen up."

A grin twitched at the corner of Zoicite's mouth. "Really? I thought shooting you in the ass was great fun."

All four men burst into laughter.

"Did I miss the joke?" Kunzite asked as he came down the stairs.

Darien waved a bag of potato chips at him. "Not really. Just Jed being typical Jed and Zoi getting a bit of revenge on him."

The platinum haired man rolled his silvery gray eyes at the chuckling golden blonde troublemaker before stating in a bored tone, "Do something about that water, Jadeite, before it drips on the floor."

Jadeite looked down at his palm where the miniature icicle had melted into a tiny puddle. He gave his former commander a mocking salute with his other hand as he barked, "Yes sir, my lord and tormentor!" The water sizzled on his skin for a moment before evaporating into a wisp of steam.

"If that boy wasn't so good at keeping the company records straight on the computer, I swear I would take him out into the middle of nowhere and run him through with my sword," Kunzite grumbled as he walked past Darien and Nephrite.

"I'd be happy to help," Nephrite declared with a sinister chuckle.

Darien huffed a laugh. "You two aren't fooling anyone. You might not miss him the first day, or the second, but by the third I would be willing to bet that you would be wishing that his annoying ass was around to bug you again."

The annoying ass in question popped up behind his former prince and attempted to give the man a hug as he cooed, "Aww…I knew somebody around here still loved me."

Darien shrugged him off, half irritated and half amused. "I take it back! You guys feel free to kill Jadeite any time you feel like it."

The other three generals snapped to attention and saluted him. "Yes, your highness!"

Then everyone dissolved into a round of good-natured chuckles.

The doorbell rang, and Darien went to answer it, saying, "That has to be Drew. He said that he would come by if he could get away from the arcade."

It was indeed Andrew. He gave his best friend a smile that was a ghost of the one that he used to wear on his face almost constantly. But despite the hard set of his jaw and the lines of tension around his eyes he looked a lot better than the broken man who had shown up on Darien's doorstep in the middle of the night two weeks before.

"So did I miss everything?" Andrew asked, managing to inject a light tone into his voice.

Darien grinned and shook his head. "Nope. You're just in time actually."

Andrew shuffled in with his hands shoved in the pockets of his khakis. "Good. I could use a break. I didn't think I would ever get away from the arcade today. What a nightmare!"

"Problems?" Darien inquired as he closed the door behind them.

"That's just it. I'm not sure," Andrew replied with a shake of his head. "When I came down from my apartment to the arcade this morning to open up I found the back door unlocked and open just a bit. I was afraid that we had been robbed, but there wasn't even a speck of dust out of place."

"Perhaps one of your kitchen staff forgot to lock it last night," Kunzite offered as the six men made their way into the entertainment room.

Andrew shrugged. "That's what I thought too. But Rico closed up the kitchen last night, and he swears that he locked the door himself. He's worked for my dad for over ten years, and I don't think he would lie about it."

Jadeite sat in a chair and propped his elbows on his knees with a thoughtful expression on his face. "But wouldn't your alarm go off if the door was opened?"

Andrew scratched the back of his head. "That's just the thing. The alarm was turned off too, which is way beyond weird because I distinctly remember setting it before I went upstairs last night. I know I've been in a fog lately, but I'm not a complete idiot. Dad yelled for a half hour saying that I forgot before he finally called the security company. Their records show that the alarm was set about midnight and then deactivated around 2:30 am."

"Perhaps you were sleepwalking," Zoicite interjected. "It's not uncommon for things like that to happen when someone has been under a lot of stress. And no offense, Andrew, but you've not exactly been yourself lately."

"I don't think that's it either," Andrew disagreed.

Nephrite sat back on a sofa and crossed an ankle over his opposite knee. "And you didn't hear anything that made you think that someone else was in the building?"

Andrew leaned against the bar and accepted the drink that Darien had just mixed for him. "Nope. And it's strange too, because I woke up about 2:45 after having a dream that I can't remember now. I was burning up and drenched in sweat, so I went to take a shower. I never heard a peep. So if there was someone in there, they had to have been a ghost because they didn't make a sound. But like I said, nothing was taken or even moved."

Darien chuckled. "I don't think ghosts have to worry about things like security systems and doors. Perhaps the door just wasn't pushed to all the way and the wind blew it open. It rained last night and was a bit windy. And perhaps by some freak of nature your security system decided to have a blonde moment at the same time."

"Either that, or I'm loosing my mind. Which is really not that hard to envision," Andrew snorted as he took a sip of his drink. "I did kind of wonder if the girls were behind it since they used to come and go from the arcade at all hours of the night back in the day. I know Amy's computer had some way of bypassing the system. But they always locked up and turned the alarm back on when they left."

"I seriously doubt it," Darien told him. "I don't think anyone has been down to the scouts' old control room for probably around two years now, except for maybe Luna and Artemis, and that's a long shot. The only thing down there is the moon's old database computer."

Andrew sighed. "I figured as much. I was just trying to go for the obvious solutions. But that's enough about my troubles. I thought the point of this get-together was for us to have a good time."

Jadeite's spunk returned as he jumped from his seat. "That's right! So who's up for some pool?"

"Wait a minute!" Darien called out, his voice deep and serious. "There is something that I want to talk to you guys about first."

The four generals all sank into their seats and looked expectantly at the former prince, who came to stand in front of them.

Darien took a deep breath. "That night, the first night when we first came up with the idea of bringing you guys back to life, I admit that it was with selfish intentions on my part. It's not that I didn't think that you deserved a second chance, but I had ulterior motives. I was torn about my school decision and Serena was pressuring me to accept the Harvard offer. It's not that I don't think that the scouts are good fighters; heaven knows that those girls have fought their share of battles over the years. But the last time I tried to leave things went downhill in a bad way. I died. The scouts died. And Serena almost died while saving this planet from destruction. I never want her to have to be alone in a position like that ever again if at all possible. So I didn't bring you back just to give you a second chance at life. I also hoped that you would agree to be an extra line of protection for Serena and watch over her in my absence."

Silence lingered in the room for a moment after he finished speaking. And then the generals began chuckling softly.

Jadeite was the first to speak up. "Did you honestly think that we didn't have that part figured out already? Serena has become like a little sister to me. Of course I'll help keep an eye on her."

"Not like it will be that hard to do," Nephrite snickered. "The girls are around each other so much that I'm sure that we'll be spending a lot of time in Serena's presence."

Zoicite's expression appeared slightly miffed. "I'm just a little bit offended that you even had to ask. What kind of friends do you take us for? I know that you would watch out for Amy if I had to spend any time away with no questions asked."

Kunzite nodded his head sternly. "I agree. Serena's safety while you are gone is a non-issue. She is not only a good friend to us, but she is also your chosen future queen. She will be as safe with us as she would be with yourself or her own guard."

Darien smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I didn't doubt any of you for a moment. I just needed to hear it out loud for my own peace of mind." He turned to Andrew.

The sandy blonde man held up his hands. "Hey! I've already told you my feelings on the subject. I've known Serena for the longest, ever since my mom and hers became friends back when we were just kids. I've been looking out for her and keeping the bullies away from her, including you at one time, Darien, for a long time. I may not have any awesome super powers the way the rest of you have, but I would protect her with my life."

"I know you would," Darien answered gratefully. Then he took a sip of drink and grinned. "Okay! Now that the heavy stuff is out of the way, I thought we were about to engage in a fight to the death pool tournament."

* * *

_**D-Day**_

The airport was practically bursting at the seams with people rushing through the terminals to make their flights and families and friends hugging one another as they wished each other farewell. A voice calling out flight and gate numbers over an intercom was practically drowned out by the noise of hundreds, if not thousands of people speaking at once.

In all of the commotion, no one paid attention to the teenage girl who had retreated to a somewhat quieter area near one of the large windows that looked out over the city or the fact that she was speaking quietly into what looked like a wristwatch on her arm.

"No. I didn't uncover anything," she said in a low voice. "There have been no reports, or even rumors of sailor scout activity in the two weeks that I've been here. I thought I had finally tracked down the location of the control room couple of days ago and went in to check it out the night before last. But that ended up being a dead end. I poked around a little bit just to be sure, but then I heard a noise upstairs and realized that I wasn't alone in the building and had to bail out of there quickly."

A sigh came from the watch, followed by a crisp female voice. "I can't really say that I'm that surprised. I wasn't actually expecting you to find anything anyway. I just thought it was a good idea to cover all of our bases while you were there. It would have been nice to get some kind of an idea about the identity of at least one of the scouts. But we have time. Our enemy has yet to reveal themselves."

Another, softer, woman's voice broke in. "I'm just glad that you're coming home. I don't like you being so far away. And doing something illegal like breaking and entering…really!"

The girl smiled. "I wasn't thrilled about it either. But what else could I do? Besides, nobody would have seen me thanks to my shadow powers. And as far as me being away from you, you could be at my side in a second if I called you."

The woman on the other end huffed indignantly. "That is beside the point, young lady. I always feel better when you're at home, safe and sound where you belong. And you have some busy times ahead of you. Your classes will be starting in a few weeks."

"I know. I know," the girl groaned. "Sometimes you gripe more than mom does. Did you know that?"

"I am going to ignore that remark," the woman replied. "You just have a safe trip and I'll see you later on tonight. I'm making something special for you to celebrate your homecoming."

"Is it peach cobbler?" the girl asked eagerly.

"You'll just have to wait and see," the woman answered mysteriously.

"It is!" the girl squealed, doing a little happy dance and drawing some attention from the people around her. She felt her blood boil and had to fight back the urge to glare at some of the people who were giving her odd looks like they thought she was emotionally imbalanced. She drew in a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Any way," the first voice spoke up. "I'll be expecting a full report from you later."

"Yeah, yeah," the girl grumbled.

Then a male voice called out over the crowd from a short distance away, "Hey, Peanut! We better start getting ready. They'll be calling our flight soon."

"I gotta go," the girl said hastily, pushing a button on the side of the device that she had been talking into. Then she spun around and waved at the tall, light blonde haired man gesturing to her over the heads of the crowd. "Coming, dad!"

She hitched the backpack she was carrying up higher on her shoulder as she grumbled, "I really wish he would stop calling me Peanut. For crying out loud, I'm about to start college soon. I'm not a little kid anymore."

She weaved her way through the crowd, ducking and dodging the other bodies as she made her way towards her parents. She grinned as she saw her brunette mother fussing at her father about something, probably for embarrassing their daughter by calling her by such a childish nickname in public.

She was passing by two young men and a girl not much older than her when a harried looking businessman who came running by jostled her. She stumbled and brushed lightly against the back of the sandy haired man in the trio.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me," she murmured as she tugged the ball cap she was wearing down further over her eyes and dashed away without waiting to hear his reply.

Andrew jumped a bit after feeling someone bump gently into him and then a soft voice apologizing. He turned around to tell the person that it was okay, but whoever it was had already vanished. He looked around for a moment, feeling the back of his neck prickle uncomfortably as he suddenly felt hot and sweaty.

"Damn hot flashes," he growled, turning back to his friends. He had been experiencing these brief periods where he felt almost unbearably hot on and off for the past two weeks. He had mentioned something to Darien about them, but his friend hadn't seemed concerned about them and had told him that it was probably just his body's way of dealing with all of the stress he'd been under lately.

"Are you okay, Drew?" Serena asked, looking at him in concern.

He laughed it off. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a bit stuffy in here. I think I'll just go wait for you out by the main concourse, Serena. It will give you and lover-boy here a chance to say goodbye in private."

He pulled Darien into a one armed male hug and pounded his back a couple of times. "You take care of yourself."

Darien returned the gesture. "You too. I'll drop you a line or something once I get there and have a chance to catch my breath."

"You better," Andrew warned him. Then he stepped away. "Catch ya later, man!" And then he left the young lovers alone.

Serena stood in front of Darien, her eyes impossibly wide as she fought to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over. The last time that she had found herself in this position with him she had been determined to send him off with a smile, and she had succeeded for the most part. A few tears had trickled out that day. This time she was hoping to keep the tears inside until he was gone.

Darien smiled at her with that familiar, lopsided grin that she loved so much. "I'm afraid that I don't have a ring or anything to give you this time."

She choked out a laugh. "That's okay. I don't need anything. I already have your promise that you will come back to me." She fiddled with the pink, heart-shaped ring on her left hand.

He put his hands on her shoulders. "It's a promise that I intend to keep. I know that physically there will be a lot of distance between us, but I'll only be a phone call, e-mail, or text message away. Just promise me that you will leave me some time to study."

She sniffled lightly and nodded. "I promise I won't bug you too much. I'll just be grateful to hear from you from time to time and know that you are okay."

His hands moved up to cup her cheeks, making sure her eyes met his. "Serena, it's okay to cry. I won't think any less of you if you do."

It was if his words had torn down the last of her defenses, and she threw herself against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed tightly as she pressed her face against the soft cotton material of his shirt. Finally, she allowed a few hot tears to escape.

He hugged her back just as tightly as he rested his cheek on top of her silky golden hair. For a moment he looked like he could cry himself as he closed his eyes and breathed in her fresh citrusy scent.

After a minute he murmured words that seemed familiar to him from another place and time. "This isn't a forever goodbye, my love. I'll be back before you know it."

A nostalgic feeling swept over Serena as well as she lifted her head to look up at him. Then she raised a hand to brush his dark hair away from his eyes and trailed her fingers down his cheek.

Then she replied with words that she felt like she had spoken before. "I know you will, my prince. But I will not say goodbye. I prefer to think of it as until we are together again."

His dark blue eyes stared intently down into hers. "Then until we are together again, Serenity."

"Until we are together again, Endymion," she whispered back.

He bent down as she rose up on her tiptoes to meet him halfway, and their lips met in a lingering kiss that neither of them wanted to end. The crowds and the noise around them faded away until they felt like they were the only two people left in the world.

But unfortunately reality intruded when the last part of an announcement over the intercom broke into their dream world.

"…to Los Angeles is now boarding."

They parted reluctantly, but Serena clung to him a moment longer to tell him earnestly, "I love you, Darien."

He pressed one last tiny kiss to the tip of her pinkened nose. "I love you too, Serena. Now I better go before I miss my flight."

She nodded and let him go. "I know."

He picked up his carry-on bag by his feet with one hand and reached for one of her hands with the other as they began to walk toward his departure gate. "I have a couple of hour lay-over in California before I continue on to Boston, so I'll call you when I get there."

Serena hugged his arm closer to her. "I'll be waiting." Then she shivered as a large group of passengers passed by them. She didn't know why, but all of her senses were on alert. She scanned the crowd, but didn't see anyone that looked even remotely threatening.

"What's wrong?" Darien asked as he felt her concern.

"It's nothing," she told him as the feeling passed. "I guess my nerves just got to me for a moment."

He nodded as he shook off the unusual feeling that he had felt as well. It faded away as he turned to say his last farewell to the most important person in his life. "I have to go now. I'll talk to you soon."

Serena took a deep breath and let him go. "I'll be waiting for your call. And don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

He chuckled. "I know you will. You always come out on top." Then he gave her one more quick hug and kiss. "I'll call you as soon as I can."

And then he turned and walked away from her. A part of her wanted to run after him, to scream at him to stay with her always. But deep in her heart she knew that it was best for him to walk away at the moment that he did. She watched his retreating back until he disappeared through into the crowd that was lining up at the gate.

After a minute or so she sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to walk away. This was what she wanted. She had wanted Darien to realize his dream and had pushed him toward fulfilling that dream. It wouldn't be right for her to feel remorse for it now.

She felt a slight spike of apprehension through the bond she shared with Darien, and her thoughts shot out to him before she could stop them. _'Are you okay?'_

'_I'm fine,' _he thought back to her. _'I just had a moment when I stepped on the plane, but I'm fine now. Don't worry about me.'_

'_Easier said than done,' _she shot back at him.

'_I'll be okay, Serena,' _his mental voice spoke to her. _'I'm getting settled in my seat right now and everything is good. Now why don't you go back to the arcade with Andrew and have a milkshake.'_

'_You're a jerk!' _she grumbled at him.

She heard his laughter in her head. _'And you'll always be my Meatball Head.'_

Serena smiled to herself, but cut off any further mental ramblings with her soul mate. Hearing his voice inside her head was only making it harder for her to let him go, and she knew that she had to…at least for now.

She spotted Andrew waiting for her near the main concourse, but she turned away from him, heading toward the outside observation deck where people could watch planes take off and land. And she felt Andrew follow her.

The two of them stood in silence near the metal railing for almost a half an hour, neither of them saying anything, watching airplanes come and go. It wasn't until a large passenger jet raced down a runway and a tear slipped from Serena's eye that Andrew spoke.

"That was Darien's plane, wasn't it?" he asked softly. It was strange, but he felt like that flight was carrying away more than just his best friend.

Serena nodded. "Yes. He's on his way. Now we just have to wait for him to come back to us."

"Well, he'll know where we'll be," Andrew told her. "Now how about I take you back to the arcade and treat you to a milkshake."

A slightly sad, but genuine smile lit up Serena's face. "That sounds like a great idea, Drew."

She looked one last time toward the tiny dot in the sky that was now Darien's plane and thought one last time, _'I love you, my prince.'_

His thoughts faintly tickled hers for a moment as he replied, _'I love you, my princess.' _And then his thoughts drifted away like smoke in the wind.

Her tears under control at the moment, she spoke to him gently just before their link weakened to where they couldn't sense one another any more.

'_Until we are together again, my love. Until we are together again.'_

_**The End**_

* * *

**A/N **So that's it. If anyone is reading this and hasn't read any of my other stories and is curious about what happens after this, feel free to read the first story that I wrote in this saga, _The Lunar Princess of the Earth _and its sequel _The Galactic Trinity_, which is almost complete. This has been a storyline that has been in my head for a long time now. And although it has taken a few years to get it to the point where it is almost complete, I do feel a sense of satisfaction that I have gotten it down in print and have been able to share it with others who have been interested. I have more wonderful ideas for playing with Naoko-san's wonderful characters in addition to the other works I have in progress at the moment. And if I have managed to entertain you for even a moment, then I am happy. I hope that you have enjoyed the products of my muse. Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated. I depend on you, the readers, to supply me with feedback and let me know what you think. So for the last time, at least for this installment, be safe. Be happy. And lots of love and hugs!

~This is Sere-chan, signing out!~


End file.
